The Scarlet Web
1954 British film by Charles Saunders
- Griffith Jones
- Hazel Court
- Zena Marshall
Production
company
company
Fortress Film Productions
Release date
- June 1954 (1954-06)
Running time
The Scarlet Web is a 1954 British second feature[1] crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Hazel Court and Zena Marshall.[2]
Plot
Jake Winter, just released from prison, is approached by a blonde who asks him to steal a letter from a blackmailer who has targeted her husband.
Cast
- Griffith Jones as Jake Winter
- Hazel Court as Susan Honeywell
- Zena Marshall as Laura Vane
- Robert Percival as Charles Dexter
- Molly Raynor as Miss Riggs
- Ronnie Stevens as Simpson
- John Fitzgerald as Bert
- Stuart Douglass as Cyril
- Michael Balfour as barman
- David Stoll as Alphonse, the hairdresser
Production
The film was made at Walton Studios with some location shooting in London. Its sets were designed by the art director John Stoll.
Critical reception
Monthly Film Bulletin said "Formula detective story, made with modest competence. The basic fact that the police will believe Winter murdered an unknown woman for £50 seems improbable; this apart, however, the story is credible and no loose ends are left."[3]
Kine Weekly wrote "Compact, disarmingly inconsequential romantic comedy crime melodrama. ... The picture never takes itself too seriously, and its strong sense of humour, cultivated by Hazel Court and Griffith Jones, who make an engaging team as Susan and Jake, effectively cloaks its incredibilities without robbing it of penultimate suspense."[4]
British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Very familiar story but more professionally put together than most of its kind."[5]
Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote: "Leavened with touches of wry, wise-cracking humour, nothing in the film would have been out of place in a hardboiled flick from America except the English accents and the backgrounds."[1]
References
- ^ a b Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
- ^ "The Scarlet Web". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "The Scarlet Web". Monthly Film Bulletin. 21 (240): 106. 1954 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "The Scarlet Web". Kine Weekly. 446 (2447): 21. 20 May 1954 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 369. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
External links
- The Scarlet Web at IMDb
- The Scarlet Web at ReelStreets
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Films by Charles Saunders
| Director |
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|---|---|
| Editor |
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| Cutter |
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| Script writer |
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- Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents (8 episodes) (1953–1954)
- Fabian of the Yard (10 episodes) (1953–1956)
- Adventures of the Big Man (9 episodes) (1956)
- Peter Saunders (impresario)
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