This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(May 2022) |
Passport to Treason | |
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Directed by |
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Screenplay by | |
Based on | novel by Paddy Manning O'Brine |
Produced by | Robert S. Baker |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Monty Berman |
Edited by | Henry Richardson |
Music by | Stanley Black |
Production company | Mid-Century Film Productions |
Distributed by | Eros Films (UK) |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Passport to Treason is a 1956 British second feature [1] mystery thriller directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Rod Cameron, Lois Maxwell, and Clifford Evans. [2] It was written by Kenneth R. Hayles and Norman Hudis, based on the Manning O'Brine novel of the same name. [3] [4]
After the death of a friend, private investigator Mike O'Kelly investigates an organisation that claims to be working for world peace, but turns out to be a front for a crime syndicate.
Monthly Film Bulletin said "Opening with the private detective wandering through a London fog, this thriller goes on to introduce the corpse (stabbed) clutching the book with a vital clue, the private nursing home equipped with a good stock of "truth drug," the equivocally placed heroine, and the gun battle in a dockside warehouse. Such classic situations, here presented earnestly but humourlessly, make up a fairly routine melodrama." [5]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Stock melodramatic situations straighforwardly presented make this a watchable support." [6]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Resolute thriller reminiscent of the late 1930s." [7]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Western star Rod Cameron should never have packed his passport to play the private eye in this dire British B-feature with its sub-Hitchcockian plot about neo-fascists in London concealing their activities within an organisation for world peace. A better actor than granite-jawed Cameron might have breathed some life into the line-up of hackneyed situations." [8]
Hell Is a City is a 1960 British crime thriller film starring Stanley Baker, based on the 1954 novel of the same title by Maurice Procter.
The Good Die Young is a 1954 British crime film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker, Richard Basehart and John Ireland. It was made by Remus Films from a screenplay based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Richard Macaulay. It tells the story of four men in London with no criminal past whose marriages and finances are collapsing and, meeting in a pub, are tempted to redeem their situations by a robbery.
The Ship That Died of Shame, released in the United States as PT Raiders, is a black-and-white 1955 Ealing Studios crime film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Richard Attenborough, George Baker, Bill Owen and Virginia McKenna.
Emergency Call, released in the US as The Hundred Hour Hunt, is a 1952 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Jack Warner, Anthony Steel, Joy Shelton and Sid James. It was distributed by Butcher's Film Service. The film was a noted success compared to its small budget and helped establish Gilbert as a director. It was remade in 1962 as Emergency.
The Night My Number Came Up is a 1955 British supernatural drama film directed by Leslie Norman with screenplay by R. C. Sherriff. The film stars Michael Redgrave, Sheila Sim and Alexander Knox.
Violent Playground is a black and white 1958 British film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing, and David McCallum. The film, which deals with the genre of juvenile delinquent, has an explicit social agenda. It owes much to U.S. films of a similar genre.
The Terror is a 1938 British crime film directed by Richard Bird and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Linden Travers and Bernard Lee. It was based on the 1927 play The Terror by Edgar Wallace. The play had previously been adapted as the American film The Terror(1928).
The Woman in Question is a 1950 British murder mystery film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum. After a woman is murdered, the complex and very different ways in which she is seen by several people are examined. It was loosely adapted into the 1954 Indian film Andha Naal.
Keep Your Seats, Please is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring George Formby, Florence Desmond and Alastair Sim. It marked the film debut of the child star Binkie Stuart. The film was made by Associated Talking Pictures.
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.
Your Witness is a 1950 British drama film directed by and starring Robert Montgomery, Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer and Andrew Cruickshank. It was released in the U.S. as Eye Witness.
The Steel Key is a 1953 British second feature thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Terence Morgan, Joan Rice and Raymond Lovell.
Tread Softly Stranger is a 1958 British crime drama directed by Gordon Parry and starring Diana Dors, George Baker and Terence Morgan. The film was shot in black-and-white in film noir style, and its setting in an industrial town in northern England mirrors the kitchen sink realism movement coming into vogue in English drama and film at the time. The screenplay was adapted from the stage play Blind Alley (1953) by Jack Popplewell.
No Time for Tears is a 1957 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel in CinemaScope and Eastman Color and starring Anna Neagle, George Baker, Sylvia Syms and Anthony Quayle. The staff at a children's hospital struggle with their workload.
The Feminine Touch is a 1956 colour British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring George Baker, Belinda Lee and Delphi Lawrence. In 1957 it was released as A Lamp Is Heavy in Canada, and The Gentle Touch in the United States.
Hi Gang! is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon and Vic Oliver. It was a spin-off from the popular BBC radio series Hi Gang!.
Escape Route is a 1952 British black-and-white second feature thriller film, directed by Seymour Friedman and Peter Graham Scott, and starring George Raft, Sally Gray and Clifford Evans.
Blackout is a 1950 British crime drama film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Maxwell Reed and Dinah Sheridan. It was made as a supporting feature.
The Hostage is a 1956 British crime film directed by Harold Huth and starring Ron Randell, Mary Parker and John Bailey.
Mrs. Pym of Scotland Yard is a 1939 British comedy-drama film directed by Fred Elles starring Mary Clare in her only title role and Nigel Patrick in his film debut. It is based on the Mrs Pym novels by Nigel Morland, and written by Morland, who re-used the title for a 1946 book.