The Gaunt Stranger | |
---|---|
Directed by | Walter Forde |
Screenplay by | Sidney Gilliat |
Based on | The Ringer [1] by Edgar Wallace |
Produced by | Michael Balcon |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ronald Neame |
Edited by | Charles Saunders |
Music by | Ernest Irving |
Production company | |
Distributed by | ABFD (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 74 minutes [3] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £18,022 [4] |
The Gaunt Stranger (released as The Phantom Strikes in the US) is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Walter Forde. It stars Sonnie Hale, Wilfrid Lawson and Alexander Knox.
A notorious killer, long believed to have died in Australia, returns to England seeking revenge for the death of his sister. The "Ringer" threatens to murder the criminal mastermind Maurice Meister. Detective Inspector Alan Wembury is assigned to the case and, despite his strong dislike for Meister, attempts to protect him with the reluctant assistance of another criminal, Sam Hackett, who has been released from prison as he is the only man able to identify the "Ringer". Even with his help, Wembury struggles to unmask their target before the time at which Meister is due to be killed.
The film was made by and at Ealing Studios, [5] and was the company's first release after Michael Balcon's appointment as head of production. It was based on the 1925 novel The Gaunt Stranger by Edgar Wallace, which had been renamed The Ringer in 1926, and which Forde had previously adapted as The Ringer in 1931. So the 1939 film used the original novel title, although the opening credits state that it is based on Wallace's novel The Ringer. [1] The film was screened by the censors on 4 October 1938, [3] but didn't premier until 10 January 1939, when it opened at Gaumont Haymarket as second film in a double bill with The Cowboy and the Lady . [2] It was, however, popular enough for a British re-release in 1945.
Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor and writer. He appeared in over 100 film, television, and theatrical productions over a career spanning from the 1920s until the late 1980s. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as American President Woodrow Wilson in the 1944 film Wilson. However, his career in the United States was hampered by McCarthyism, and he spent the rest of his career in the United Kingdom.
Sidney Gilliat was an English film director, producer and writer.
Patrick David Barr was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series.
John Robert Hale-Monro, known as Sonnie Hale, was an English actor, screenwriter, and director.
The Ringer may refer to:
John Longden was a British film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including six films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
The Long Arm is a 1956 British film noir police procedural crime film directed by Charles Frend and starring Jack Hawkins. It was based on a screenplay by Robert Barr and Janet Green, and produced by Michael Balcon. It was shot on location in London and Snowdonia in North Wales.
The Ringer is a 1952 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Herbert Lom, Donald Wolfit, Mai Zetterling, Greta Gynt, William Hartnell, and Denholm Elliott. The screenplay was by Lesley Storm and Val Valentine. It was Hamilton's directorial debut and the third English-language sound version of Edgar Wallace's 1929 play based on his 1925 novel The Gaunt Stranger. The previous adaptations were in 1928 (silent), 1931, 1932 (Germany-Austria), and 1938.
Walter Forde was a British actor, screenwriter and director. Born in Lambeth, South London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the silent era through to 1949 in the sound era. He died in Los Angeles, California in 1984.
Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday is a 1939 British detective film directed by Walter Forde and starring Gordon Harker, Alastair Sim and Linden Travers. It is the sequel to the 1938 film Inspector Hornleigh, and both films are based on the novels by Leo Grex. A third and final film, Inspector Hornleigh Goes To It, followed in 1941.
The Ringer is a 1931 British crime film directed by Walter Forde and starring Patric Curwen, Esmond Knight, John Longden and Carol Goodner. Scotland Yard detectives hunt for a dangerous criminal who has recently returned to England. The film was based on the 1925 Edgar Wallace story The Gaunt Stranger, which is the basis for his play The Ringer. Forde remade the same story in 1938 as The Gaunt Stranger. There was also a silent film of The Ringer in 1928, and a 1952 version starring Donald Wolfit.
Garry Marsh was an English stage and film actor.
The Ringer is a 1928 British silent crime film directed by Arthur Maude starring Leslie Faber, Annette Benson and Hayford Hobbs. It was based on the 1925 Edgar Wallace novel The Gaunt Stranger. Scotland Yard hunt for a dangerous criminal who has returned to Britain after many years away. A talkie version of The Ringer followed in 1931.
The Ringer is a 1932 Austrian-German mystery film directed by Martin Frič and Karel Lamač and starring Paul Richter, Maria Matray and Wera Engels. It is a screen adaptation of Edgar Wallace's 1925 novel The Ringer. Another German version, Der Hexer, was made in 1964. It was shot at the Sievering Studios in Vienna. The film's sets were designed by the art director Heinz Fenchel.
Solo for Sparrow is a 1962 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Gordon Flemyng and starring Glyn Houston, Anthony Newlands and Nadja Regin, with Michael Caine in an early supporting role. It was written by Roger Marshall based on the 1928 Edgar Wallace novel The Gunner, and produced by Jack Greenwood and Abhinandan Nikhanj as part of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series.
Let's Be Famous is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Jimmy O'Dea, Betty Driver and Sonnie Hale. It was made by Associated Talking Pictures, with shooting beginning in November 1938. The film's art direction was by the Austrian Oscar Werndorff, in his final production.
Take a Chance is a 1937 British comedy sports film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Claude Hulbert, Binnie Hale, and Henry Kendall. It depicts farcical events in the horse racing world.
Tower of Terror is a 1941 British wartime thriller film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Michael Rennie and Movita. It was made at Welwyn Studios with location shooting on Flat Holm off the Welsh coast.
Der Hexer is a 1964 West German black-and-white mystery film directed by Alfred Vohrer and starring Joachim Fuchsberger. It was part of a very successful series of German films based on the writings of Edgar Wallace and adapted from the 1925 novel titled The Ringer. In 1965, a sequel Neues vom Hexer was released.
Man Detained is a 1961 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Robert Tronson and starring Bernard Archard, Elvi Hale and Paul Stassino. The screenplay was by Richard Harris, based on the 1916 Edgar Wallace novel A Debt Discharged. It is part of the series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios from 1960 to 1965.
IMDB give John Longden as Inspector Wembury, in fact Patrick Barr played this part.