The Crooked Billet is a 1929 British sound part-talkie drama film directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Madeleine Carroll, Carlyle Blackwell and Miles Mander.[1] It was released in both silent and sound versions, as its production came as the industry was shifting over.[2] It was made by Gainsborough Pictures at their Islington Studios. The sound version features some sequences with audible dialogue. The rest of the film featured English intertitles with a synchronized musical score and sound effects.
It was one of the first films to use RCA's synchronized sound system for dialogue.[3]
The plot has been summarized as: "An international spy searches for lost documents hidden in an old inn."[4]
It is listed on the British Film Institute's 75 Most Wanted list of lost films.[4] The fim surfaced in France in december 2021 but the BFI refused to pay the asking price, so the only known 16mm copy is owned by a French individual.
Cast
- Carlyle Blackwell as Dietrich Hebburn
- Madeleine Carroll as Joan Easton
- Miles Mander as Guy Morrow
- Gordon Harker as Slick
- Kim Peacock as Philip Easton
- Danny Green as Rogers
- Frank Goldsmith as Sir William Easton
- Alexander Field as Alf
Reprise
An identically titled film with a similar theme was released in 2017.[5] A sequel was released in 2018,[6] and a third feature is planned.[7]
References
- ^ "The Crooked Billet". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
- ^ Burton, Alan (4 April 2016). Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442255869.
- ^ Low, Rachael, Editor (2013). History of British Film 1918 – 1929. Vol. 4. Routledge. pp. 170, 205, 352. ISBN 9781136206405.
{{cite book}}:|first1=has generic name (help);|work=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "The Crooked Billet / BFI Most Wanted". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ "Crooked Billet (3D)". 8 November 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2019 – via IMDb.
- ^ "Crooked Billet II (2018)". 16 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019 – via IMDb.
- ^ "About CROOKED BILLET the Yorkshire Feature Film". Retrieved 1 January 2019.
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