Valentine Dyall was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series Appointment with Fear.
John Creasey was an English author known mostly for detective and crime novels but who also wrote science fiction, romance and westerns. He wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms.
In the series of adventure novels by John Creasey, the Toff is the nickname of the Honourable Richard Rollison, an upper-class crime sleuth. Creasey published almost 60 Toff adventures, beginning with Introducing the Toff in 1938 and continuing through The Toff and the Crooked Copper, published in 1977, four years after the author's death.
John Bentley was a British film actor. He had a successful career as a leading man from the 1940s to the late '50s and was a popular heart-throb who appeared in many British B-movies during that time. Later in his career, in the 1970s he appeared as Hugh Mortimer, Meg Richardson's ill-fated third husband in the English soap opera Crossroads. He also starred in the jungle adventure series African Patrol (1957) as Chief Inspector Paul Derek and made various other guest appearances in many popular TV series from the late 50s onwards.
Dancing with Crime is a 1947 British film noir film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes and Sheila Sim. A man hunts down the killer of his lifelong friend.
Tread Softly is a 1952 British crime film with musical overtones, directed by David MacDonald and starring Frances Day, Patricia Dainton and John Bentley. A chorus girl investigates a series of mysterious happenings at a derelict theatre.
Patricia Dainton was a British actress who appeared in a number of films and television roles between 1947 and 1961.
Wings of Danger is a 1952 British second feature crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Zachary Scott, Robert Beatty and Kay Kendall. The screenplay, based on the 1951 novel Dead on Course by Trevor Dudley Smith and Packham Webb, concerns a pilot who is suspected of smuggling. It was released in the United States under its working title of Dead on Course.
Mantrap, released in the United States as Man in Hiding, is a 1953 British second feature whodunit directed by Terence Fisher, starring Paul Henreid and Lois Maxwell. It was written by Fisher and Paul Tabori based on the 1952 novel Queen in Danger by Trevor Dudley-Smith.
Murder by Proxy is a 1954 British 'B' film noir crime drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Dane Clark, Belinda Lee and Betty Ann Davies. The film was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Helen Nielsen. It was produced by Hammer Films, and released in the United States by Lippert Pictures.
Mask of Dust is a 1954 British second feature motor racing drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Richard Conte, Mari Aldon and Peter Illing. It was based on the 1953 novel The Last Race by Jon Manchip White. It was released in the United States by Lippert Pictures as A Race for Life.
Stolen Assignment is a 1955 British comedy 'B' film directed by Terence Fisher and starring John Bentley and Hy Hazell. It was produced by Francis Searle for Act Films Ltd and was a sequel to Fisher's Final Appointment (1954), featuring sleuthing journalists Mike Billings and Jenny Drew.
Paul Temple Returns is a 1952 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley, Patricia Dainton and Peter Gawthorne.
River Beat is a 1954 British second feature noir crime film directed by Guy Green and starring John Bentley, Phyllis Kirk and Leonard White. It was distributed in the United States by Lippert Pictures.
Black Orchid is a 1953 British 'B' mystery film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Ronald Howard, Olga Edwardes and John Bentley. It was written by Francis Edge, John Temple-Smith and Maurice Temple-Smith.
Salute the Toff is a 1952 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Carol Marsh. The film was based on the 1941 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the sixth in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollinson, also known as "The Toff". This film and another Toff adaptation, Hammer the Toff, were shot back-to-back at Nettlefold Studios in the summer of 1951. They were released to cinemas in January and May 1952 respectively.
Love's a Luxury, also known as The Caretaker's Daughter, is a 1952 British second feature comedy film directed by Francis Searle and starring Hugh Wakefield, Derek Bond and Michael Medwin. It is version of the stage play of the same name by Edward Hole and Guy Paxton, and was made by the Manchester-based Mancunian Films.
Witness in the Dark is a 1959 British second feature crime drama film directed by Wolf Rilla, and starring Patricia Dainton, Conrad Phillips, Madge Ryan and Nigel Green. It was written by Leigh Vance and John Lemont and produced by Norman Williams.
Profile is a 1954 British second feature thriller film directed by Francis Searle and starring John Bentley, Kathleen Byron and Thea Gregory. A murder mystery set in a magazine publishers.
It Happened in Soho is a 1948 British black and white low-budget B film directed by Frank Chisnell and starring Richard Murdoch and Henry Oscar. A reporter trails a multiple killer.
