The Scarlet Web

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The Scarlet Web
The Scarlet Web.jpg
Directed by Charles Saunders
Written by Doreen Montgomery
Produced by Frank Bevis
Starring
Cinematography Hone Glendinning
Edited by Jack Slade
Production
company
Fortress Film Productions
Distributed by Eros Films
Release date
  • June 1954 (1954-06)
Running time
63 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Scarlet Web is a 1954 British second feature [1] crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Hazel Court and Zena Marshall. [2] It was written by Doreen Montgomery.

Contents

Plot

Jake Winter, just released from prison, is approached by a blonde who asks him to steal a letter from a blackmailer who has targeted her husband.

Cast

Production

The film was made at Walton Studios with some location shooting in London. Its sets were designed by the art director John Stoll.

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Formula detective story, made with modest competence. The basic fact that the police will believe Winter murdered an unknown woman for £50 seems improbable; this apart, however, the story is credible and no loose ends are left." [3]

Kine Weekly wrote "Compact, disarmingly inconsequential romantic comedy crime melodrama. ... The picture never takes itself too seriously, and its strong sense of humour, cultivated by Hazel Court and Griffith Jones, who make an engaging team as Susan and Jake, effectively cloaks its incredibilities without robbing it of penultimate suspense." [4]

British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Very familiar story but more professionally put together than most of its kind." [5]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote: "Leavened with touches of wry, wise-cracking humour, nothing in the film would have been out of place in a hardboiled flick from America except the English accents and the backgrounds." [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 128. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "The Scarlet Web". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Scarlet Web". Monthly Film Bulletin . 21 (240): 106. 1954 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "The Scarlet Web". Kine Weekly . 446 (2447): 21. 20 May 1954 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 369. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.


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