Room to Let | |
---|---|
Directed by | Godfrey Grayson |
Written by |
|
Produced by | Anthony Hinds |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Cedric Williams |
Edited by | James Needs |
Music by | Frank Spencer |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Exclusive Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 68 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Room to Let is a 1950 British historical thriller film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Jimmy Hanley, Valentine Dyall and Constance Smith. [1] It was adapted from the BBC radio play by Margery Allingham, broadcast in 1947. [2] [3]
After a fire at an insane asylum during the Edwardian era, a young journalist becomes convinced that one of the patients has escaped and taken lodgings at a local middle-class household. The mysterious "Doctor Fell" comes to dominate the three women in the house - mother, daughter and maid - and increasingly shuts them off from outside contact. Despite a lack of assistance from the authorities, the journalist suspects that the Doctor is in fact the notorious Jack the Ripper who is planning a fresh series of attacks.
TV Guide gave the film two out of five stars, calling it "A fairly disturbing programmer which remains suspenseful to the end." [4] and Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings wrote, "This is basically a variation of THE LODGER, and a very effective one. Valentine Dyall steals the movie as the truly creepy lodger, Dr. Fell." [5]
Margery Louise Allingham was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh.
Valentine Dyall was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series Appointment with Fear.
John Gilling was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Reptile (1966) and The Mummy's Shroud (1967), Cross of the Devil (1975), among others.
The City of the Dead is a 1960 supernatural horror film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and starring Christopher Lee, Venetia Stevenson, Betta St. John, Patricia Jessel and Valentine Dyall. The film marks the directorial debut of Moxey. It was produced in the United Kingdom but set in America, and the British actors were required to speak with North American accents throughout.
Room for Two is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Frances Day, Vic Oliver and Greta Gynt. The film was written by Gilbert Wakefield, based on his 1938 stage farce. The film's Italian setting was overtaken by events, as by the time of its release Fascist Italy had entered the Second World War against Britain.
Suspended Alibi is a 1957 black and white British crime film directed by Alfred Shaughnessy and starring Patrick Holt, Honor Blackman and Lloyd Lamble. The film was produced by Robert Dunbar for Act Films Ltd. It was reissued in the United States as Suspected Alibi.
Time Bomb is a 1953 British film noir thriller film directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring Glenn Ford, Anne Vernon and Maurice Denham. It was produced by MGM at the company's Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director Alfred Junge. In the United States it was released under the title Terror on a Train.
The Broken Horseshoe is a 1953 British "B" crime film directed by Martyn C. Webster and starring Robert Beatty, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter Coke, and Hugh Kelly. It was based on a BBC television series of the same title from the previous year. A surgeon is drawn into a murder case.
Hammer the Toff is a 1952 British second feature crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Patricia Dainton. The film was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the 17th in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollinson, also known as "The Toff".
One Jump Ahead is a 1955 British crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Paul Carpenter, Diane Hart, Jill Adams and Freddie Mills. The film was based on a novel by American crime novelist Robert H. Chapman. The screenplay concerns a journalist who helps police track down the killer of a female blackmailer. The title refers to the reporter's attempts to keep "one jump ahead" of the police in solving the crime.
Trouble with Eve is a 1960 British second feature comedy film directed by Francis Searle and starring Hy Hazell, Sally Smith, Robert Urquhart and Garry Marsh. It was based on the play Widows are Dangerous by June Garland. It was shot at Walton Studios. The film was released in the U.S. in 1964 as In Trouble With Eve.
Night Train for Inverness is a black and white 1960 British drama film directed by Ernest Morris and starring Norman Wooland, Jane Hylton and Dennis Waterman.
Impulse is a 1954 British second feature film noir directed by Cy Endfield and starring Arthur Kennedy, Constance Smith and Joy Shelton.
The Story of Shirley Yorke is a 1948 British drama film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Derek Farr, Dinah Sheridan and Margaretta Scott. The film was based on the play The Case of Lady Camber by Horace Annesley Vachell. It was made at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames. Art direction was by Charles Gilbert.
The Green Carnation is a 1954 British crime film directed by John Lemont and starring Wayne Morris, Mary Germaine and Marcia Ashton.
Trouble in the Air is a 1948 British comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Freddie Frinton, Jimmy Edwards, and Bill Owen. It was made at Highbury Studios as a second feature. The film's sets were designed by the art director Don Russell.
Loyal Heart is a 1946 British drama film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Percy Marmont, Harry Welchman and Patricia Marmont. The film portrays rivalry in the sheep farming community.
Vengeance Is Mine is a 1949 British second feature crime drama film directed by Alan Cullimore and starring Valentine Dyall, Anne Firth and Richard Goolden.
Night Comes Too Soon is a 1948 British horror film directed by Denis Kavanagh and starring Valentine Dyall, Anne Howard and Alec Faversham. It was based on the story The Haunters and the Haunted by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and also incorporates the "changing picture" component from The Mezzotint by M. R. James. It was released in the United States under the alternative title of The Ghost of Rashmon Hall.
The Monarch Film Corporation was a British film distribution company active during the 1940s and 1950s. It specialised in supplying second features to British cinemas. The company handled a mixture of British and American films, as well as the Australian film Strong Is the Seed. It involved itself in production at times, and produced several more ambitious features including Hindle Wakes (1952) and A Yank in Ermine (1956). It had an arrangement with ACT Films under John Croydon to handle films made at Walton Studios. The 1952 adventure film Men Against the Sun (1952) was, unusually for the second feature market, a costume adventure film despite its running time.