The Drayton Case | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ken Hughes |
Written by | Ken Hughes |
Produced by | Alec C. Snowden executive Nat Cohen Stuart Levy |
Starring | Victor Platt Vincent Ball John Le Mesuirer |
Narrated by | Edgar Lustgarten |
Cinematography | John Wiles |
Edited by | Derek Holding |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Anglo-Amalgamated (UK) |
Release date |
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Running time | 26 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Drayton Case is a 1953 British short crime film produced by the Anglo-Amalgamated production company as part of their Scotland Yard film series. It was directed by Ken Hughes and is hosted by Edgar Lustgarten. It stars Hilda Barry and John Le Mesurier. [1] [2]
Made at Merton Park Studios, it was originally released as support for cinema feature film screenings and later screened on television. [3]
It is based on the case of Harry Dobkin with names and some other details changed.
During the early years of World War II, a bomb from a German aeroplane uncovers the corpse of a strangled woman. It turns out she was killed by her husband Charles Drayton.
John Le Mesurier was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation comedy Dad's Army (1968–1977). A self-confessed "jobbing actor", Le Mesurier appeared in more than 120 films across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts.
The Pleasure Garden is a 1953 short film written and directed by James Broughton, starring Hattie Jacques, Lindsay Anderson, and John Le Mesurier.
The Wrong Arm of the Law is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins, Lionel Jeffries, John Le Mesurier, Bill Kerr and Nanette Newman. The final screenplay was written by John Antrobus, Ray Galton, and Alan Simpson – from an original draft script by John Warren and Len Heath, based on a story by Ivor Jay and William Whistance Smith – and made by Romulus Films. It reunited Sellers, Jeffries, and Cribbens who appeared together in the 1960 film comedy Two-Way Stretch – also written by John Warren and Len Heath – where similarly Sellers and Cribbens played crooks (incarcerated) against Jeffries as on officer of the law, in that case as their chief prison officer.
Kenneth Graham Hughes was an English film director and screenwriter. He worked on over 30 feature films between 1952 and 1981, including the 1968 musical fantasy film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, based on the Ian Fleming novel of the same name. His other notable works included The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), Of Human Bondage (1964), Casino Royale (1967), and Cromwell (1970). He was an Emmy Award winner and a three-time BAFTA Award nominee.
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A Matter of Murder is a 1949 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Maureen Riscoe, John Barry, Charles Clapham, Ian Fleming and John Le Mesurier.
The Blue Parrot is a low budget 1953 British "B" crime film directed by John Harlow and starring Dermot Walsh, Jacqueline Hill, Ballard Berkeley, Richard Pearson, and John Le Mesurier. The film was produced by Stanley Haynes for Act Films Ltd. The screenplay is by Alan MacKinnon from a story by British crime reporter Percy Hoskins.
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Dead Lucky is a 1960 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Vincent Ball, Betty McDowall, John Le Mesurier, Alfred Burke and Michael Ripper. The film was written by Maurice Harrison and Sidney Nelson, and produced by Robert Dunbar for Act Films Ltd.
Stryker of the Yard is a 1953 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Clifford Evans, Susan Stephen, Jack Watling and Eliot Makeham. It was written by Lester Powell and Guy Morgan.
Blind Man's Bluff is a 1952 British 'B' crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Zena Marshall, Sydney Tafler, and Anthony Pendrell. It was written by John Gilling.
Scotland Yard is a series of 39 half-hour episodes produced by Anglo-Amalgamated. Produced between 1953 and 1961, they are short films, originally made to support the main feature in a cinema double-bill. Each film focuses on a true crime case with names changed, and feature an introduction by the crime writer Edgar Lustgarten.
Tropical Trouble is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Douglass Montgomery, Betty Ann Davies and Alfred Drayton. It was based on the novel Bunga-Bunga by Stephen King-Hall. A series of misunderstandings leads to a colonial governor's wife suspecting him of an affair with his assistant.
Little Red Monkey is a 1955 British thriller film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Richard Conte, Rona Anderson and Russell Napier. The screenplay was by Hughes and James Eastwood, based on the 1953 BBC Television series of the same name written by Eric Maschwitz.
The Brain Machine is a 1956 British thriller film directed and written by Ken Hughes and starring Maxwell Reed, Elizabeth Allan and Patrick Barr.
John Le Mesurier was an English actor who performed in many mediums of light entertainment, including film, radio and theatre. Le Mesurier's career spanned from 1934 until his death in 1983. He is best remembered for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC situation comedy Dad's Army, between 1968 and 1977.
The Dark Stairway is a 1954 British short film directed and written by Ken Hughes and starring Russell Napier and Vincent Ball. It was one of the Scotland Yard series of second feature shorts made in the 1950s for British cinemas by Anglo-Amalgamated at the Merton Park Studios. The films in the series are narrated by crime writer Edgar Lustgarten, and were subsequently broadcast as television episodes.