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The Man in Black

1950-01-31 Thriller 1hr 20m

Henry Clavering suspects his second wife Bertha is trying to drive his daughter (by his first marriage) insane, to stop her inheriting his money. He decides to use his yoga skills to pretend to be dead, and thereby expose her villainy.

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The Man in Black

Storyline

Henry Clavering suspects his second wife Bertha is trying to drive his daughter (by his first marriage) insane, to stop her inheriting his money. He decides to use his yoga skills to pretend to be dead, and thereby expose her villainy.

  • Released
    1950-01-31
  • Revenue
    n/a
  • Budget
    n/a
  • Runtime
    1hr 20m
  • Genre
    Thriller
  • Status
    Released
  • Language
    English
  • imdb-logo
    0
  • Production
    Hammer Film Productions

Crew

Francis Searle
Director
John Gilling
Screenplay
Anthony Hinds
Producer
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Cast

Betty Ann Davies

Betty Ann Davies
Bertha Clavering
Sheila Burrell

Sheila Burrell
Janice
Sid James

Sid James
Henry Clavering / Hodson
Anthony Forwood

Anthony Forwood
Victor Harrington
Hazel Penwarden

Hazel Penwarden
Joan Clavering
Valentine Dyall

Valentine Dyall
Story Teller / Narrator
Courtney Hope

Courtney Hope
Mrs. Carter
Mollie Palmer

Mollie Palmer
Elsie
Lawrence Baskcombe

Lawrence Baskcombe
Sandford

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The Man in Black
The Man in Black

Movie Reviews

Reviews for The Man in Black
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A Review by John Chard 7

Written by John Chard on 2019-01-31

Oakfield Towers ... The Scene... The Man in Black is directed by Francis Searle and Searle co-writes the play with John Gilling. It stars... read more

Oakfield Towers ... The Scene... The Man in Black is directed by Francis Searle and Searle co-writes the play with John Gilling. It stars Betty Ann Davies, Sheila Burell, Sid James, Anthony Forwood and Mollie Palmer. Music is by Frank Spencer and Rupert Grayson and cinematography by Cedric Williams. Out of Hammer Films, this adaptation from a radio series is a tight little "Gaslight" suspenser. Story basically entails a young lady recently bequeathed her father's inheritance, who is at the mercy of scheming family members intent on ensuring she doesn't get what's rightfully hers. The core of the plot is quickly revealed to us, so there is no pretention as to this being a supernatural dark house spooker - which is on the cards given the splendid shadowy and creaky setting of the Oakfield Towers mansion. Story moves through a number of pleasant surprises, murder and intrigue prominent, motives straight and sketchy depending on certain characters' involvements, and thankfully the final run in has some weighty surprise value as well. It's all very correct in dialogue and a little camp in places, but it's clever in its telling and nicely performed by the cast. 6.5/10

reviewer avatar

A Review by Geronimo1967 5

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2022-12-27

It's interesting to see Sid James play a straight (albeit brief) role for change in this simple little crime thriller. He is a wealthy chap ... read more

It's interesting to see Sid James play a straight (albeit brief) role for change in this simple little crime thriller. He is a wealthy chap with a rather venal second wife and step-daughter. His obsession with mysticism leads, one evening, to a risky experiment and it all goes wrong... We have no absence of potential culprits as his new family try to drive his daughter out of her mind so they can inherit his fortune. Betty Ann Davies is good as the scheming the wife, with Sheila Burrell likewise as her ghastly, grasping, daughter all manipulating poor old "Joan" (Hazel Penwarden) in a decently paced mystery. Sadly the ending is writ a bit large from fairly early on, and that makes it all sag a bit - maybe Francis Searle could have tightened it up by a quarter of an hour? It's still an enjoyable watch, though - with a slightly more sophisticated script (that may owe something to it's BBC radio heritage). It is rarely shown nowadays, but is worth seeing through if you encounter it.

Read Full Review (The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the reviewer.)
A Review by John Chard

Oakfield Towers ... The Scene... The Man in Black is directed by Francis Searle and Searle co-writes the play with John Gilling. It stars Betty Ann Davies, Sheila Burell, Sid James, Anthony Forwood and Mollie Palmer. Music is by Frank Sp...

reviewer avatar

A Review by John Chard 7

Written by John Chard on 2019-01-31

Oakfield Towers ... The Scene... The Man in Black is directed by Francis Searle and Searle co-writes the play with John Gilling. It stars Betty Ann Davies, Sheila Burell, Sid James, Anthony Forwood...

read more
reviewer avatar

A Review by Geronimo1967 5

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2022-12-27

It's interesting to see Sid James play a straight (albeit brief) role for change in this simple little crime thriller. He is a wealthy chap with a rather venal second wife and step-daughter. His obses...

read more