John Creasey was an English crime writer, also writing science fiction, romance and western novels, who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms.
John Gilling was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Reptile (1966) and The Mummy's Shroud (1967), among others.
Donald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films—The Blue Lagoon (1949) with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in his career he was cast in military roles and in comedies such as the Doctor and Carry On series.
Glyn Houston was a Welsh actor best known for his television work. He was the younger brother of film actor Donald Houston.
John Harvey was an English actor. He appeared in 52 films, two television films and made 70 television guest appearances between 1948 and 1979.
Maniac is a 1963 British psychological thriller film directed by Michael Carreras and starring Kerwin Mathews, Nadia Gray and Donald Houston.
John Lovell Horsley was a British actor.
Janine Gray is a former film and TV actress of British descent.
The Girl in the Picture is a 1957 British crime film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Donald Houston and Patrick Holt.
Mix Me a Person is a 1962 British crime drama film directed by Leslie Norman, starring Anne Baxter, Donald Sinden, Adam Faith, Walter Brown and Carole Ann Ford. The screenplay concerns a young London criminal who is faced with being hanged for murdering a policeman. With even his defence counsel convinced of his guilt, a female psychiatrist tries to prove that the police and legal system have made a mistake.
The Steel Key is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Terence Morgan, Joan Rice and Raymond Lovell.
No Trace is a 1950 British crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Hugh Sinclair, Dinah Sheridan and John Laurie. The working title of the film was Murder by the Book. The screenplay concerns a crime writer who murders a blackmailer, and is then asked to help solve the case by the police.
The Frightened Man is a 1952 British crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Dermot Walsh, Barbara Murray and Charles Victor. It is also known by the alternative title of Rosselli and Son and was shot at Twickenham and Riverside Studios. Its plot concerns a son of an antiques dealer who suffers a dramatic fall from grace.
Mr. Reeder in Room 13 is a 1938 British crime film directed by Norman Lee and starring Peter Murray-Hill, Sally Gray and Gibb McLaughlin. It is based on the first J. G. Reeder book, Room 13 by Edgar Wallace. The film was released in the U.S. in 1941 as Mystery of Room 13.
Solo for Sparrow is a 1962 crime film directed by Gordon Flemyng and produced by Jack Greenwood and Abhinandan Nikhanj, part of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series of British second-features. It stars Glyn Houston, Anthony Newlands and Nadja Regin, and features Michael Caine in an early supporting role. The film was released in America in 1966, when the producers capitalised on Caine's new-found fame and released it with his name above the title.
Sexton Blake and the Mademoiselle is a 1935 British crime film directed by Alex Bryce and starring George Curzon as Sexton Blake.
Deadly Nightshade is a 1953 British crime drama film directed by John Gilling. It stars Emrys Jones, Zena Marshall and John Horsely. A convict on the run switches identities with a lookalike, only to find himself in even deeper trouble.
A Dead Secret is a 1957 play by Rodney Ackland. It is a murder drama set in 1911 London and is based on the Seddon murder trial.
Fictional detectives are characters in detective fiction. These individuals have long been a staple of detective mystery crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories. Much of early detective fiction was written during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" (1920s–1930s). These detectives include amateurs, private investigators and professional policemen. They are often popularized as individual characters rather than parts of the fictional work in which they appear. Stories involving individual detectives are well-suited to dramatic presentation, resulting in many popular theatre, television, and film characters.
Emergency is a 1962 British drama film directed by Francis Searle and starring Glyn Houston, Zena Walker and Dermot Walsh. The film is a remake of the 1952 film Emergency Call directed by Lewis Gilbert. While that had been made as a first feature to top the double bill, the remake was produced as a second feature.
