The Squeaker | |
---|---|
Directed by | William K. Howard |
Screenplay by |
|
Based on | novel and play by Edgar Wallace |
Produced by | Alexander Korda |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Georges Périnal |
Edited by | Russell Lloyd |
Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | £42,858 (UK distributor) [1] |
The Squeaker is a 1937 British crime film directed by William K. Howard and starring Edmund Lowe, Sebastian Shaw and Ann Todd. [2] Edmund Lowe reprised his stage performance in the role of Inspector Barrabal. [3] It is based on the 1927 novel The Squeaker and 1928 play of the same name by Edgar Wallace. Wallace's son Bryan Edgar Wallace worked on the film's screenplay. The Squeaker is underworld slang for an informer. [4] The film is sometimes known by its U.S. alternative title Murder on Diamond Row. [4]
London's thieves are at the mercy of a super fence, who is in on every big jewellery robbery in the city. If the thieves won't split the loot with him, 'The Squeaker' shops them to the Police. A disgraced ex-detective believes there may be an opportunity to clear his name if he can capture 'The Squeaker'.
TV Guide wrote, "(it) has its moments, but is bogged down by the unnecessary characterizations, some occasionally inept lensing, and slow-paced direction"; [5] while the Radio Times wrote, "Edgar Wallace's classic whodunnit has been reworked into an efficient crime story by producer Alexander Korda...Confined within starchy studio sets, William K Howard directs steadily, but the removal of that touch of mystery leaves him with precious little to play with, to the extent that he has to bolster the action with protracted love scenes between Lowe and Ann Todd. Robert Newton and Alastair Sim put in pleasing support appearances"; [3] and Leonard Maltin wrote, "classy cast in first-rate Edgar Wallace mystery." [6]
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his death in 1976. Starting in 1935, he also appeared in more than fifty British films, including an iconic adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol, released in 1951 as Scrooge in Great Britain and as A Christmas Carol in the United States. Though an accomplished dramatic actor, he is often remembered for his comically sinister performances.
Edgar Wallace (1875–1932) was a British novelist, playwright and screenwriter whose works have been adapted for the screen on many occasions. His films fall into two categories, British adaptations and the German "Krimi" films.
Edmund Sherbourne Lowe was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film.
Busman's Honeymoon is a 1940 British detective film directed by Arthur B. Woods. An adaptation of the 1937 Lord Peter Wimsey novel Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon stars Robert Montgomery, Constance Cummings, Leslie Banks, Googie Withers, Robert Newton and Seymour Hicks as Mervyn Bunter.
Inspector Hornleigh is a 1938 British detective film directed by Eugene Forde, starring Gordon Harker and Alastair Sim, with Miki Hood, Wally Patch, Steven Geray and Edward Underdown. The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in England. The screenplay was co-written by Bryan Edgar Wallace.
Death Drums Along the River is a 1963 British-German international co-production directed by Lawrence Huntingdon ad starring Richard Todd and Marianne Koch.
The Flying Squad, also known as Edgar Wallace's The Flying Squad is a 1940 British crime film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Sebastian Shaw, Phyllis Brooks and Jack Hawkins. It was based on a 1928 novel by Edgar Wallace, which had been previously filmed under the same title in 1929 (silent) and 1932.
Mystery Liner is a 1934 American Pre-Code film directed by William Nigh, starring Noah Beery, Sr., and based on an Edgar Wallace story originally published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1924. The film was entered as a feature attraction at the 1934 International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art in Venice, Italy, the forerunner of the Venice Film Festival.
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.
The Sinister Man is a 1961 British crime drama film directed by Clive Donner and starring Patrick Allen and John Bentley. It was one of the series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries, British second-features, produced at Merton Park Studios in the 1960s.
The Garden Murder Case is a 1936 American mystery drama film, the tenth in the Philo Vance film series, following after 1935's The Casino Murder Case. In this entry to the series, Vance is played by Edmund Lowe, and Virginia Bruce co-stars. The film also features Benita Hume, Douglas Walton, and Nat Pendleton. It was directed by Edwin L. Marin from a screenplay by Bertram Millhauser based on the 1935 book of the same name by S. S. Van Dine.
Der Frosch mit der Maske, aka Face of the Frog, is a 1959 West German-Danish black-and-white crime film directed by Harald Reinl and starring Siegfried Lowitz and Joachim Fuchsberger. It was the first of a very successful series of films based on works by Edgar Wallace produced by Rialto Film in West Germany. This film was adapted from the 1925 novel The Fellowship of the Frog.
Mad Holiday is a 1936 American comedy mystery film directed by George B. Seitz and written by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf. The film stars Edmund Lowe, Elissa Landi, ZaSu Pitts, Ted Healy, Edmund Gwenn and Edgar Kennedy. The film was released on November 13, 1936, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Under Cover of Night is a 1937 American mystery action film directed by George B. Seitz, written by Bertram Millhauser, and starring Edmund Lowe, Florence Rice, Nat Pendleton, Henry Daniell, Sara Haden and Dean Jagger. It was released on January 8, 1937, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Espionage is a 1937 American Proto-Noir, spy-film, adventure, drama, romance, comedy thriller film directed by Kurt Neumann and written by Leonard Lee, Ainsworth Morgan and Manuel Seff, based on the 1935 West End play Espionage by Walter C. Hackett. The film stars Edmund Lowe, Madge Evans, Paul Lukas, Ketti Gallian, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and Frank Reicher. The film was released February 26, 1937, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Bryan Edgar Wallace (1904–1971) was a British writer. The son of the writer Edgar Wallace, Bryan was also a writer of crime and mystery novels which were very similar in style to those of his father. He was named after the American politician William Jennings Bryan whom his father encountered during a trip to North America.
The Squeaker is a 1930 British mystery crime film directed by Edgar Wallace and starring Percy Marmont, Anne Grey and Gordon Harker.
The Malpas Mystery is a 1960 British second feature ('B') crime film, directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Maureen Swanson and Allan Cuthbertson. The screenplay was by Paul Tabori and Gordon Wellesley, based on the 1924 Edgar Wallace novel The Face in the Night.
Playback is a 1962 British crime film directed by Quentin Lawrence and starring Margit Saad, Barry Foster and Nigel Green. It was written by Robert Banks Stewart based on a short story by Edgar Wallace, and was part of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries film series.
The Man Who Was Nobody is a 1960 British second feature film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Hazel Court, John Crawford and Lisa Daniely. The screenplay was by James Eastwood, based on the 1927 Edgar Wallace novel of the same name. It is part of the series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios from 1960 to 1965.