Secrets of Scotland Yard is a 1944 American thriller film directed by George Blair and starring Edgar Barrier, Stephanie Bachelor and C. Aubrey Smith.[1] The screenplay was by Denison Clift, adapting one of his own stories "Room 40, O.B." from Blue Book Magazine.[2] It concerns a British police detective who goes undercover to root out a Nazi spy in Britain's decoding organization.
| Secrets of Scotland Yard | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | George Blair |
| Written by | Denison Clift |
| Produced by | George Blair |
| Starring | Edgar Barrier Stephanie Bachelor C. Aubrey Smith Lionel Atwill |
| Cinematography | William Bradford |
| Edited by | Fred Allen |
| Music by | Charles Maxwell |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 68 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Cast edit
- Edgar Barrier as John Usher / Robert Usher
- Stephanie Bachelor as Sudan Ainger
- C. Aubrey Smith as Sir Christopher Pelt
- Lionel Atwill as Waterlow
- Henry Stephenson as Sir Reginald Meade
- John Abbott as Mortimer Cope
- Walter Kingsford as Roylott Bevan
- Martin Kosleck as Josef
- Forrester Harvey as Alfred Morgan
- Frederick Worlock as Mason
- Matthew Boulton as Colonel Hedley
- Bobby Cooper as David Usher
Critical reception edit
- Silentcomedymafia.com noted that director "Blair keeps up the pace and suspense perfectly well, giving the film a relatively expensive look when you know full well (Republic president) Herbert Yates is pinching every penny."[3]
- In The Star-spangled Screen: The American World War II Film, Bernard F. Dick called the film "first-rate espionage and one of the studios classier efforts...Another instance of a minor film that shows considerably more intelligence than many major ones. It is the only film of the period to explain the techniques of Cryptoanalysis, particularly how page numbers of a book can provide the key to a code."[4]
Bibliography edit
- Dick, Bernard F. The Star-Spangled Screen: The American World War II Film. University Press of Kentucky, 1996.
- Glancy, H. Mark. When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939-1945. Manchester University Press, 1999.
External links edit
References edit
- ^ "Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944) | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
- ^ "Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944) - Screenplay Info". TCM.com. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
- ^ Roberts, Richard M (April 26, 2014). "• View topic - Cinevent Notes: SECRETS OF SCOTLAND YARD (1944)". Silentcomedymafia.com. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
- ^ Dick, Bernard F. (1996). The Star-spangled Screen: The American World War II Film - Bernard F. Dick - Google Books. ISBN 0813128218. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
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