Troubled Waters (1936 film)

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Troubled Waters
Directed by Albert Parker
Written by Gerard Fairlie
Story by
Produced by John Findlay
Starring
Cinematography Roy Kellino
Edited by Cecil H. Williamson
Production
company
Distributed byTwentieth Century-Fox Film Company (UK)
Release dates
  • 4 February 1936 (1936-02-04)(London, England)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Troubled Waters is a 1936 British mystery film directed by Albert Parker and starring James Mason, Virginia Cherrill, Alastair Sim, Raymond Lovell and Sam Wilkinson. [1] [2] It was written by Gerald Fairlie from a story by W. P. Lipscomb and Reginald Pound. The film was made at Wembley Studios as a quota quickie by the British subsidiary of Fox Film. [3]

Contents

Plot

A government agent exposes smugglers in a British town with a dwindling spring mineral water business. [4]

Cast

Critical reception

Kine Weekly wrote: "Crime detection and humour are adequately blended in a mystery staged against the background of a remote English village. The plot is rather far-fetched, and the love interest based on the customary quarrel between the pratagonists, apt to be forced." [5]

The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Far-fetched melodrama ... Direction never gets at grips with fantastic subject matter, and action is occasionally difficult to follow. Best performance comes from Alastair Sim as unctuous publican, with James Mason a likeable lead as Government agent. Moderate entertainment for the masses." [6]

TV Guide gave the film two out of four stars, and wrote, "The action is sustained throughout and Mason, as usual, is very good." [7]

References

  1. "Troubled Waters". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  2. "BFI | Film & TV Database |Troubled Waters (1936)". ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  3. Chibnall, Steve. (2007). Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film. British Film Institute. p. 43. ISBN   978-1844571550.
  4. "Troubled Waters (1936) - Albert Parker | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  5. "Troubled Waters". Kine Weekly . 228 (1503): 35. 6 February 1936. ProQuest   2338389210.
  6. "Troubled Waters". The Daily Film Renter (2774): 5. 5 February 1936. ProQuest   3127109193.
  7. "Troubled Waters". TV Guide . Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.