The Brown Wallet

Last updated

The Brown Wallet
Brownwallet.jpg
trade poster
Directed by Michael Powell
Written by Ian Dalrymple
Based onshort story by Stacy Aumonier
Produced by Irving Asher
Starring Patric Knowles
Cinematography Basil Emmott
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • 20 July 1936 (1936-07-20)
Running time
68 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Brown Wallet is a 1936 British crime film, directed by Michael Powell and starring Patric Knowles. The Brown Wallet, adapted from a short story by Stacy Aumonier, was one of over 20 quota quickies directed by Powell between 1931 and 1936. It is among eleven of these films of which no extant print is known to survive, and its current status is "missing, believed lost". [1]

Contents

Plot

Publisher John Gillespie faces a financial crisis after his business partner skips town with all the firm's assets. Facing ruin, he reluctantly approaches a wealthy aunt for assistance but is met with a stony-faced refusal. Returning home in a taxi, he finds a wallet containing £2,000 left behind by a previous passenger. He takes the wallet, but rather than confiding in his wife he rents a room in which he secretes the money, telling her he needs the room for business purposes.

Shortly afterwards his aunt is found murdered, with her safe having been broken into and robbed. Gillespie is the prime suspect, and wary of incriminating himself with regard to the £2,000 and unwilling to face having to surrender the cash, his story is deemed unsatisfactory and he is arrested and charged with murder. However, a former employee of his aunt makes his own investigation into the case and discovers the real culprit. Gillespie is released, then discovers he has been bequeathed a large sum of money in his aunt's will. He can then return the wallet and the £2,000 to its rightful owner.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>In the Heat of the Night</i> (TV series) American TV series

In the Heat of the Night is an American police procedural crime drama television series loosely based on the 1967 film and 1965 novel of the same title. It starred Carroll O'Connor as police chief Bill Gillespie and Howard Rollins as police detective Virgil Tibbs, and was broadcast on NBC from March 6, 1988, until May 19, 1992, then on CBS from October 28, 1992, until May 16, 1995. Its executive producers were Fred Silverman, Juanita Bartlett, and O'Connor. This series marked Carroll O'Connor’s return to a series for the first time after Archie Bunker's Place ended back in 1983.

<i>After the Thin Man</i> 1936 film by W. S. Van Dyke

After the Thin Man is a 1936 American murder mystery comedy film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart. A sequel to the 1934 feature The Thin Man, the film presents Powell and Loy as Dashiell Hammett's characters Nick and Nora Charles. The film also features Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia, Jessie Ralph, Alan Marshal and Penny Singleton.

<i>Another Thin Man</i> 1939 film directed by W. S. Van Dyke

Another Thin Man is a 1939 American detective film directed by W. S. Van Dyke, the third of six in the Thin Man series. It again stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles and is based on Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op story "The Farewell Murder". The Charles' son Nicky Jr. is introduced for the first time. The cast includes their terrier Asta, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger, C. Aubrey Smith, Ruth Hussey, Nat Pendleton, Patric Knowles, Sheldon Leonard, Tom Neal, Phyllis Gordon and Marjorie Main. Shemp Howard appears in an uncredited role as Wacky.

<i>A Study in Terror</i> 1965 British film by James Hill

A Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson. It was filmed at Shepperton Studios, London, with some location work at Osterley House in Middlesex.

<i>It Happened Tomorrow</i> 1944 film by René Clair

It Happened Tomorrow is a 1944 American fantasy film directed by René Clair, starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie, and featuring Edgar Kennedy and John Philliber. It is based on the one-act play "The Jest of Haha Laba" by Lord Dunsany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patric Knowles</span> English actor (1911–1995)

Reginald Lawrence Knowles, better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second film leads throughout his career. He appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1970s.

<i>The Charge of the Light Brigade</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Michael Curtiz

The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1936 American historical adventure film from Warner Bros., starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Samuel Bischoff, with Hal B. Wallis as the executive producer. The film's screenplay is by Michael Jacoby and Rowland Leigh, from a story by Michael Jacoby, and based on the 1854 poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The music score was composed by Max Steiner, his first for Warner Bros., and the cinematography was by Sol Polito. Scenes were shot at the following California locations: Lone Pine, Sherwood Lake, Lasky Mesa, Chatsworth, and Sonora. The Sierra Nevada mountains were used for the Khyber Pass scenes.

<i>Fours a Crowd</i> 1938 film by Michael Curtiz

Four's a Crowd is a 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell and Patric Knowles. The picture was written by Casey Robinson and Sig Herzig from a story by Wallace Sullivan. This was the fourth of nine films in which Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland appeared.

<i>Tall in the Saddle</i> 1944 film by Edwin L. Marin

Tall in the Saddle is a 1944 American Western film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring John Wayne and Ella Raines. Written by Paul Fix and Michael Hogan, based on the serialized novel of the same name by Gordon Ray Young, the film is about a tough quiet cowboy who arrives at an Arizona town and discovers that the rancher who hired him has been murdered and that the kindhearted young woman who just inherited the ranch is being manipulated by her overbearing aunt and a scheming Judge who are planning to steal her inheritance. As the cowboy investigates the rancher's murder, he meets the fiery horsewoman who owns a neighboring ranch and who challenges him at first, but eventually falls in love with him. With powerful forces opposed to his presence in the town, the cowboy survives attempts on his life as he gets closer to solving the murder with the help of two beautiful women.

<i>Ivy</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Sam Wood

Ivy is a 1947 American crime drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Joan Fontaine, Patric Knowles, Herbert Marshall and Richard Ney. It written by Charles Bennett, based on the 1927 novel The Story of Ivy by Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>The Girl in the Crowd</i> 1935 British film

The Girl in the Crowd is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Michael Powell starring Barry Clifton, Patricia Hilliard, and Googie Withers.

<i>Crown v. Stevens</i> 1936 British film

Crown v. Stevens is a 1936 British crime thriller film directed by Michael Powell. It was made as a quota quickie.

<i>Endless Night</i> (1972 film) 1972 film by Sidney Gilliat

Endless Night is a 1972 British horror-mystery film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Hayley Mills, Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson, Hywel Bennett, and George Sanders. Based on the 1967 novel Endless Night by Agatha Christie, the plot follows a newlywed couple who feel threatened after building their dream home on cursed land.

<i>I Killed That Man</i> 1941 film by Phil Rosen

I Killed That Man is a 1941 American film directed by Phil Rosen that was a remake of his 1933 film The Devil's Mate. It starred Ricardo Cortez and was produced by the King Brothers.

<i>The Price of a Song</i> 1935 film

The Price of a Song is a 1935 British crime film, directed by Michael Powell. It is one of 23 quota quickies Powell directed between 1931 and 1936. It features a largely forgotten cast – only Felix Aylmer, here in a minor role, would go on to a significant film career.

Basil Emmott, BSC was a prolific English cinematographer with 190 films to his credit, active from the 1920s to the 1960s. Emmott's career started in the silent era and continued through to the mid-1960s. His most prolific decade was the 1930s, when he was involved with almost 120 films, many of which were produced by noted documentary film-maker John Grierson.

Irish for Luck is a 1936 British comedy film, also known as Meet the Duchess. Made at Teddington Studios by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers, it was directed by Arthur B. Woods and starred Athene Seyler, Margaret Lockwood and Patric Knowles. Adapted from a novel by L.A.G. Strong, in the film an impoverished Irish Duchess tries to survive on her small income.

<i>Shooting Straight</i> 1930 film

Shooting Straight is a 1930 American pre-Code crime drama film, directed by George Archainbaud and starring the early RKO staple Richard Dix and Mary Lawlor. The screenplay was written by J. Walter Ruben, from Wallace Smith's adaptation of a story by Barney A. Sarecky. It was one of the films that earned a positive return for RKO that year, turning a profit of $30,000.

<i>Baby Face Harrington</i> 1935 film by Raoul Walsh

Baby Face Harrington is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Raoul Walsh and written by Nunnally Johnson, Edwin H. Knopf and Charles Lederer. The film stars Charles Butterworth, Una Merkel, Harvey Stephens, Eugene Pallette and Nat Pendleton. The film was released on April 12, 1935, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Terror in the Wax Museum</i> 1973 film

Terror in the Wax Museum is a 1973 American horror mystery film directed by Georg Fenady and starring Ray Milland, Elsa Lanchester, Maurice Evans, John Carradine, Broderick Crawford, Louis Hayward, Patric Knowles, and Shani Wallis. The film was released by Cinerama Releasing Corporation in May 1973. It is set in London at the end of the Victorian era.

References

  1. Mark Duguid. "Early Michael Powell". BFI Screen Online. Retrieved 8 January 2010.