The Great Impersonation | |
---|---|
Directed by | Alan Crosland |
Written by | Eve Greene Frank Wead |
Based on | The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim |
Produced by | Edmund Grainger |
Starring | Edmund Lowe Valerie Hobson Wera Engels Murray Kinnell |
Cinematography | Milton R. Krasner |
Edited by | Philip Cahn |
Music by | Heinz Roemheld Clifford Vaughan |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 68 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Great Impersonation is a 1935 Universal Pictures American drama film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Edmund Lowe, Valerie Hobson and Wera Engels. It was adapted from the 1920 novel The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim. The film bears some aesthetic similarities to the Universal horror films of the 1930s. [1] Two other film versions of the story were produced with the same title in 1921 and 1942.
Before World War I, Sir Everard Dominey, a drunken upper-class Englishman, encounters an old acquaintance, the sinister German arms dealer Baron Leopold von Ragostein, in Africa. The two men are identical, and von Ragostein plans to kill his doppelgänger and take his place in British high society, where he will be able to further his arms business and spy on Britain for the Germans. He arranges the murder with his associates.
When von Ragostein returns to London, assuming the identity of Dominey, he encounters the German aristocrat Stephanie Elderstrom, who is certain that she recognizes him as her former lover. Although von Ragostein's associates attempt to pay her to remain silent, she remains convinced that something is amiss. When von Ragostein reaches Donimey Hall, Dominey's wife is certain that it is Dominey. Gradually, doubts begin to emerge about the true identity of the man who has come home.
Son of Frankenstein is a 1939 American horror film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The film is the third in Universal Pictures' Frankenstein series and is the follow-up to the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein. Son of Frankenstein stars Rathbone as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein who, with his wife Elsa and son Peter, returns to his late father's estate. Near the castle lives Ygor, a crazed blacksmith whose neck was broken in an unsuccessful hanging attempt. Among the castle's remains, Frankenstein discovers the remains of the Monster and decides to try to save his family name by resurrecting the creature to prove his father was correct. He finds, however, the Monster only responds to Ygor's commands.
The Invisible Man Returns is a 1940 American horror science fiction film directed by Joe May. The film stars Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey and John Sutton. The film is a sequel to the 1933 film The Invisible Man, and the second film in the Invisible Man film series. The film is about Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe (Price) who is condemned for a murder he did not commit, which leads to him begging Dr. Frank Griffin (Sutton) to inject him with the invisibility serum despite Griffin's warning that the serum will drive him mad.
Invisible Agent is a 1942 American action and spy film directed by Edwin L. Marin with a screenplay written by Curt Siodmak. The invisible agent is played by Jon Hall, with Peter Lorre and Sir Cedric Hardwicke as members of the Axis, and Ilona Massey and Albert Basserman as Allied spies. The film is inspired by the 1897 H. G. Wells novel The Invisible Man.
The Invisible Ray is a 1936 American science-fiction horror film directed by Lambert Hillyer. It stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, a scientist who comes in contact with a meteorite composed of an element known as "Radium X". After exposure to its rays begins to make him glow in the dark, his touch becomes deadly, and he begins to be slowly driven mad. Alongside Karloff, the film's cast includes Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi, Violet Kemble Cooper, and Nydia Westman.
The Ghost of Frankenstein is a 1942 American horror film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. It is the fourth film in the Frankenstein series by Universal Pictures, and the follow-up to Son of Frankenstein (1939). The film's plot follows the previous film's: Frankenstein's Monster and his companion Ygor are chased out of town. They go to another small town to encourage the younger son of Henry Frankenstein to continue his father's experiments, so that Ygor can have revenge against his enemies and his brain transplanted into the Monster's skull.
Son of Dracula is a 1943 American horror film directed by Robert Siodmak with a screenplay based on an original story by his brother Curt Siodmak. The film stars Lon Chaney Jr., Louise Allbritton, Robert Paige, Evelyn Ankers, and Frank Craven. The film is set in the United States, where Count Alucard has just taken up residence. Katherine Caldwell (Allbritton), a student of the occult, becomes fascinated by Alucard and eventually marries him. Katherine begins to look and act strangely, leading her former romantic partner Frank Stanley (Paige) to suspect that something has happened to her. He gets help from Dr. Brewster (Craven) and psychologist Laszlo who come to the conclusion that Alucard is a vampire.
House of Frankenstein is a 1944 American horror film starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine. It was directed by Erle C. Kenton and produced by Universal Pictures. Based on Curt Siodmak's story "The Devil's Brood", the film is about Dr. Gustav Niemann, who escapes from prison and promises to create a new body for his assistant Daniel. Over the course of the film, they encounter Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster. The film is a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).
Werewolf of London is a 1935 horror film directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull as the titular werewolf. The supporting cast includes Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, Lester Matthews, and Spring Byington. Jack Pierce, who is best known for creating the iconic makeup worn by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film Frankenstein, created the film's werewolf makeup. Produced by Universal Pictures, Werewolf of London was the first feature-length werewolf film.
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror is a 1942 American mystery thriller film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The film combines elements of Doyle's short story "His Last Bow", to which it is credited as an adaptation, and the real-life activities of Lord Haw-Haw.
The Secret of the Blue Room is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, Paul Lukas, and Edward Arnold. A remake of the German film Geheimnis des blauen Zimmers (1932), it concerns a group of wealthy people who stay at a European mansion that features a blue room that is said to be cursed, as everyone who has stayed there has died shortly after. Three people suggest a wager that each can survive a night in the blue room.
Life Returns is an American film directed by Eugene Frenke. The film stars Onslow Stevens, George P. Breakston and Lois Wilson with a plot that involves a doctor who is convinced that the dead can be brought back to life gets the chance to prove his theory on a dog that has recently died. Eugene Frenke created a film record of the operation and developed a film that would incorporate the footage of Robert E. Cornish who was doing experiments that successfully let him bring dead animals back to life.
The Great Impersonation is a mystery novel written by E. Phillips Oppenheim and published in 1920. German Leopold von Ragastein meets his doppelganger, Englishman Everard Dominey, in Africa, and plans to murder him and steal his identity to spy on English high society just prior to World War I. However, doubts of the returned Dominey's true identity begin to arise in this tale of romance, political intrigue, and a (literally) haunting past.
The Great Impersonation is a 1942 American thriller film directed by John Rawlins and starring Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers and Aubrey Mather. It is an adaptation of the 1920 novel The Great Impersonation by Edward Phillips Oppenheim with the setting moved from the early 1910s of the novel to the Second World War. It was made by Universal Pictures and was a remake of their 1935 film of the same name.
The Great Impersonation is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by George Melford and written by Monte M. Katterjohn and E. Phillips Oppenheim. The film stars James Kirkwood, Sr., Ann Forrest, Winter Hall, Truly Shattuck, Fontaine La Rue, Alan Hale, Sr., and Bertram Johns. The film was released on October 9, 1921, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film.
Fugitive Road is a 1934 American comedy drama film directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring Erich von Stroheim, Wera Engels and Leslie Fenton. It is set a border post in Austria following World War I. A variety of different people trying to cross the border end up stranded there, including an American gangster and a naïve young Russian woman hoping to sail to New York to join her brother.
The Witness Vanishes is a 1939 American mystery film directed by Otis Garrett and starring Edmund Lowe, Wendy Barrie, and Bruce Lester.
Frankenstein is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the play version by Peggy Webling and the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The series follow the story of a monster created by Henry Frankenstein who is made from body parts of corpses and brought back to life. The rest of the series generally follows the monster continuously being revived and eventually focuses on a series of cross overs with other Universal horror film characters such as The Wolf Man. The series consists of the following films: Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
Dracula is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and its 1927 play adaptation. Film historians had various interpretations of what constitutes being in the film series, with academics and historians finding narrative continuation between Dracula (1931) and Dracula's Daughter (1936) with varying different opinions on if Son of Dracula (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) were part of the series. Author and academic Gary Don Rhodes stated the all the mentioned films would require an audience to be familiar with Count Dracula portrayed by Bela Lugosi and the various character traits the actor established in the original 1931 film.
The Last Express is a 1938 American mystery film directed by Otis Garrett and written by Edmund Hartmann. It is based on the 1937 novel The Last Express by Baynard Kendrick. The film stars Kent Taylor, Dorothea Kent, Don Brodie, Paul Hurst, Addison Richards, Greta Granstedt, Robert Emmett Keane and J. Farrell MacDonald. The film was released on October 28, 1938, by Universal Pictures.
Geheimnis des blauen Zimmers is a 1932 German mystery film directed by Erich Engels and starring Theodor Loos, Else Elster and Hans Adalbert Schlettow.