Sidney Gilliat was an English film director, producer and writer.
High Treason is a 1929 film based on a play by Noel Pemberton Billing. It was directed by Maurice Elvey, and stars James Carew, Humberstone Wright, Benita Hume, Henry Vibart, Hayford Hobbs, Irene Rooke, and Jameson Thomas. Raymond Massey makes his first screen appearance in a small role. The film was initially produced as a silent but mid-way during production, Elvey was pushed by the studio to add sound to the film in order to cash in on the talkies. Although a third of the film was filmed in sound, Elvey maintained much of the silent footage and dubbed over the dialogue for shots that were originally silent, with Elvey himself voicing some of the minor characters, which he admitted when interviewed by the Manitoba Free Press shortly after the film was released in the US. Likewise, BIP's Blackmail, directed by Alfred Hitchcock was also turned into a sound picture mid-way during production and many of the silent scenes used dubbed dialogue and sound effects in a similar fashion to High Treason.
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 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. It was Hamilton's directorial debut and the third English-language sound version of Edgar Wallace's 1929 play, which in of itself was based on his 1925 novel The Gaunt Stranger. The previous adaptations had come in 1928 (silent), 1931, 1932 (Germany-Austria), and 1938. It was shot at Shepperton Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director William Hutchinson.
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.
Hayford Hobbs was a leading British film actor of the silent era and later became a film director. He was born in London, England, in 1891. He made his first screen appearance in the 1915 film The Third Generation and appeared in his last film High Treason in 1929. The following year he directed his first film, a documentary about London.
The Gaunt Stranger is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Walter Forde. It stars Sonnie Hale, Wilfrid Lawson and Alexander Knox.
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.
Frederick George Merritt was an English theatre, film and television actor, often in authoritarian roles. He studied German theatre in Magdeburg, Germany, and taught at the Berlitz School at the outbreak of the First World War, when he was held as a British Civil Prisoner of War, and interned at Ruhleben, 1914–1918. He was involved in over 50 plays at Ruhleben. He lived for many years in Lissenden Gardens, Parliament Hill, north west London.
The Third Eye is a 1929 British silent crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Dorothy Seacombe and Hayford Hobbs. The screenplay concerns a financier's plot to rob banks.
Hindle Wakes is a 1918 British silent film drama, directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Colette O'Niel and Hayford Hobbs. It is the first of four screen versions of the celebrated and controversial 1912 play by Stanley Houghton. It which was a sensation in its time for its daring assertions that a woman could enjoy a sexual fling just as much as a man, without feeling any guilt or obligation to explain herself, and that she was perfectly capable of making her own life decisions without interference from family or the need to bow to social pressures.
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.
Deadlock is a 1931 British crime film directed by George King and starring Stewart Rome, Marjorie Hume and Warwick Ward. It is on the British Film Institute's list of the 75 Most Wanted list of lost films.
The Manchester Man is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by Bert Wynne and starring Hayford Hobbs, Aileen Bagot and Joan Hestor. It was an adaptation of the 1876 novel The Manchester Man by Isabella Banks. It follows the lifetime of a Manchester resident Jabez Clegg during the turbulent 19th century.
The Gay Lord Quex is a 1917 British silent comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ben Webster, Irene Vanbrugh and Lilian Braithwaite. It is based on the 1899 play The Gay Lord Quex by Arthur Wing Pinero.
The Ever Open Door is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by Fred Goodwins and starring Hayford Hobbs, Daphne Glenne and Margaret Hope. It was based on the play The Ever Open Door by George R. Sims, a leading Victorian writer of stage melodramas. It was one of a number of Sim's plays to be adapted for cinema during the Silent era.
Dombey and Son is a 1917 British silent drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Norman McKinnel, Lilian Braithwaite and Hayford Hobbs. It is an adaptation of the 1848 novel Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. It is unknown if any copy of the film exists.
Sir or Madam is a 1928 British-German silent comedy film directed by Carl Boese and starring Margot Armand, Percy Marmont and Ossi Oswalda. It was based on the 1923 novel Sir or Madame by Berta Ruck and shot at Elstree Studios near London. The film was a co-production between Germany and Britain, with separate versions released in the countries. In Britain it was not released until February 1930.
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.
