Sneha Girap (Editor)

Man in Black (film)

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Director
  
Francis Searle

Screenplay
  
John Gilling

Language
  
English

6/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Thriller, Horror

Duration
  

Country
  
United Kingdom

Man in Black (film) movie poster
Writer
  
John Gilling
,
Francis Searle
,
John Dickson Carr

Release date
  
January 1950 (UK)

Music director
  
Frank Spencer, Rupert Grayson

Cast
  
Betty Ann Davies
(Bertha Clavering),
Sheila Burrell
(Janice),
Sid James
(Henry Clavering / Hodson),
Anthony Forwood
(Victor Harrington),
Hazel Penwarden
(Joan Clavering),
Valentine Dyall
(Story Teller / Narrator)

Similar movies
  
I Love a Mystery
,
The Devil's Mask
,
The Unknown
,
Myrt And Marge
,
The Shadow
,
Dick Barton: Special Agent

Man in Black is a 1949 British thriller film directed by Francis Searle and starring Betty Ann Davies, Sheila Burrell and Sid James. It was adapted by Hammer Films from the popular British radio series Appointment with Fear featuring Valentine Dyall. Dyall (The "Man in Black" of the radio series) here provides the on screen introduction to the film, as "The Story-Teller".

Contents

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.

Plot

After the death of her yogi father during a freak "yoga accident", Joan Clavering returns home to her widowed and suddenly very wealthy step-mother Bertha. The latter conspires with her daughter Janice to drive Joan insane and deprive her of her rightful inheritance.

Similar Movies

What the Butler Saw (1950). Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974). Sid James appears in Man in Black and The Flanagan Boy. The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). The Last Page (1952).

Critical reception

  • TV Guide wrote, "The story is drivel, with some unintentionally campy plot developments. It was adapted from a British radio series, perhaps proving that some dramas are better heard than seen."
  • Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings wrote, "One of Hammers earlier forays into horror. This one is highly recommended."
  • Leonard Maltin called it a "clever little thriller with some surprises and a rare noncomic role for James."

    • References

    Man in Black (film) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA

    Man in Black (film) IMDb Man in Black (film) themoviedb.org