Kate Plus Ten (film)

Last updated

Kate Plus Ten
"Kate Plus Ten" (1938 film).jpeg
Directed by Reginald Denham
Written by
Based on Kate Plus Ten by Edgar Wallace
Produced by Richard Wainwright
Starring
Cinematography Roy Kellino
Edited by Inman Hunter
Music by Allan Gray
Production
company
Richard Wainwright Productions
Distributed by General Film Distributors
Release date
  • 1 August 1938 (1938-08-01)(UK)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Kate Plus Ten is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Reginald Denham and starring Jack Hulbert, Genevieve Tobin and Noel Madison. [1] It was adapted from the Edgar Wallace novel Kate Plus Ten . It was also released as Queen of Crime.

Contents

Production

The film was an independent production shot at Shepperton Studios. [2]

The final third of the film makes extensive use of railway locations. Among these, the main line between Bath and Westbury (Wiltshire) was employed, with a stolen train smashing through fake level crossing gates at Freshford station. The branch line through Limpley Stoke and Camerton was also featured, and a closed colliery in the Somerset coalfield was the location for the scene in which a steam locomotive crashes through wooden shed doors. [3]

Plot summary

Kate, the leader of a gang of criminals, works as secretary to an aristocrat allowing her to pick up vital information. However, the police soon become suspicious of her and Scotland Yard's Inspector Pemberton is sent on her trail.

Cast

Critical reception

Britmovie called it a "light-hearted comedy-thriller," adding, "like so many Wallace stories logic takes a back seat, but the speeding train sequence generates some lively thrills, and Hulbert and Tobin craft a likeable onscreen chemistry. Tobin is wickedly delightful as Kate, and Hulbert, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeffrey Dell, gives an agreeable performance in spite of the artificiality of the role." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Hulbert</span> British actor, director, screenwriter and singer(1892–1978)

John Norman Hulbert was a British actor, director, screenwriter and singer, specializing primarily in comedy productions, and often working alongside his wife (Dame) Cicely Courtneidge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genevieve Tobin</span> American actress (1899–1995)

Genevieve Tobin was an American actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stuart (actor)</span> Scottish actor (1898–1979)

John Stuart was born to Scottish parents, and was a very popular leading man in British silent films in the 1920s. He successfully made the transition to talking pictures in the 1930s and his film career went on to span almost six decades. He appeared in 172 films, 123 stage plays, and 103 television plays and series.

<i>I Thank You</i> (film) 1941 British film

I Thank You is a 1941 black and white British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch, Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott. It was produced by Edward Black at Gainsborough Pictures. The title of the film is the literal version of Arthur Askey's famous catch-phrase which he idiosyncratically pronounced as "Ay-thang-yaw".

<i>Grand National Night</i> 1953 film

Grand National Night is a 1953 British thriller film brought to the screen by George Minter, produced by Phil C. Samuel, and based on a play of the same title written by Campbell and Dorothy Christie. It was directed by Bob McNaught and starred Nigel Patrick, Moira Lister and Beatrice Campbell with support from Michael Hordern, Noel Purcell and a cameo role from Colin Gordon.

<i>The Case of the Frightened Lady</i> (film) 1940 British film

The Case of the Frightened Lady is a 1940 British, black-and-white, crime, drama, mystery thriller, directed by George King and starring Marius Goring as Lord Lebanon, Helen Haye as Lady Lebanon, Penelope Dudley Ward as Isla Crane, George Merritt (actor) as Detective Inspector Tanner, Ronald Shiner as Detective Sergeant Totty and Felix Aylmer as Dr Amersham. It was produced by Pennant Picture Productions and presented by British Lion Film Corporation. The film is based on the 1931 play by Edgar Wallace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hambling</span> British actor (1888–1952)

Arthur Hambling was a British actor, on stage from 1912, and best known for appearances in the films Henry V (1944) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). In 1939 he appeared in the West End in N.C. Hunter's comedy Grouse in June.

<i>The Ringer</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film by Guy Hamilton

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.

<i>The Ghost Train</i> (1941 film) 1941 British film by Walter Forde

The Ghost Train is a 1941 British thriller mystery film directed by Walter Forde and starring Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch. It is based on the 1923 play of the same name written by Arnold Ridley.

<i>The Gaunt Stranger</i> 1939 British film

The Gaunt Stranger is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Walter Forde. It stars Sonnie Hale, Wilfrid Lawson and Alexander Knox.

<i>The Face at the Window</i> (1939 film) 1939 British film

The Face at the Window is a 1939 British horror film directed by George King. It was the second sound film adaptation of the 1897 stage melodrama by F. Brooke Warren after the 1932 version.

<i>The Frightened Lady</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

The Frightened Lady is a 1932 British thriller film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Emlyn Williams, Cathleen Nesbitt, Norman McKinnel and Belle Chrystall. It was adapted by Bryan Edgar Wallace from his father Edgar Wallace's 1931 play The Case of the Frightened Lady, which was adapted again later for a 1940 film.

<i>The Calendar</i> (1948 film) 1948 British film by Arthur Crabtree

The Calendar is a black and white 1948 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Greta Gynt, John McCallum, Raymond Lovell and Leslie Dwyer. It is based on the 1929 play The Calendar and subsequent novel by Edgar Wallace. A previous version had been released in 1931.

<i>Kate Plus Ten</i> (novel) 1917 novel by Edgar Wallace

Kate Plus Ten is a 1917 British crime novel written by Edgar Wallace. In 1938, it was made into a film Kate Plus Ten. It was adapted for the film The Trygon Factor starring Stewart Granger.

<i>Postmans Knock</i> (film) 1962 British film by Robert Lynn

Postman's Knock is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Robert Lynn starring Spike Milligan, Barbara Shelley, John Wood and Warren Mitchell. The screenplay concerns a country postman who is transferred to London, where he manages to foil a major robbery.

<i>The Frog</i> 1937 British film

The Frog is a 1937 British crime film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Gordon Harker, Noah Beery, Jack Hawkins and Carol Goodner. The film is about the police chasing a criminal mastermind who goes by the name of The Frog. It was based on the 1925 novel The Fellowship of the Frog by Edgar Wallace, and the 1936 play version by Ian Hay. It was followed by a loose sequel The Return of the Frog, the following year.

<i>Murder in Eden</i> (film) 1961 British film by Max Varnel

Murder in Eden is a 1961 British mystery film directed by Max Varnel and starring Ray McAnally, Catherine Feller and Yvonne Buckingham. An art critic is murdered and a reporter helps Scotland Yard hunt for the killer.

<i>You Live and Learn</i> 1937 film by Arthur B. Woods

You Live and Learn is a 1937 comedy film directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Glenda Farrell and Claude Hulbert. The film was a quota quickie production and was based on the novel "Have You Come for Me?" by Norma Patterson. It was released by Warner Bros. in September 1937. The movie is now classed as a lost film.

<i>Miss Tulip Stays the Night</i> 1955 British film

Miss Tulip Stays the Night is a 1955 British comedy crime film starring Diana Dors, Patrick Holt, Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge. It was the last major feature film directed by Leslie Arliss. The screenplay concerns a crime writer and his wife who stay at a country house where a mysterious corpse appears.

<i>The Dark Man</i> (film) 1951 British film by Jeffrey Dell

The Dark Man is a 1951 British black and white film-noir thriller film written and directed by Jeffrey Dell and starring Edward Underdown, Maxwell Reed and Natasha Parry. It was produced by Julian WIntle for Rank Studios.

References

  1. BFI.org
  2. Wood p.95
  3. Huntley, John, "Steam in the Movies", Steam Railway magazine, 1995
  4. "Kate Plus Ten 1938 | Britmovie | Home of British Films". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.

Bibliography