''Wanted for Murder'' is a 1946 British

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring

Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...

Dulcie Gray Dulcie Winifred Catherine Savage Denison, (''née'' Bailey; 20 November 1915 – 15 November 2011), known professionally as Dulcie Gray, was a British actress, mystery writer and lepidopterist. While at drama school in the late 1930s she met ...

Derek Farr Derrick Capel Farr (7 February 191221 March 1986) was an English actor who appeared regularly in British films and television from 1938 until his death in 1986. His more famous roles include Group Captain John Whitworth in '' The Dam Busters' ...

, and

Roland Culver Roland Joseph Culver, (31 August 1900 – 1 March 1984) was an English stage, film, and television actor. Life and career After Highgate School, he joined the Royal Air Force and served as a pilot from 1918 to 1919. After considering other c ...

Plot

Anne Fielding is delayed on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

, making her late for a meeting with her friend Victor James Colebrooke. She meets Jack Williams who is also delayed. The two take an immediate liking to each other. After they emerge from the Underground Jack helps her to locate Victor. Victor, the grandson of a notorious hangman, is gradually becoming insane and unable to resist the urge to strangle women to death. He is in love with Anne, but he does not know how much longer he can prevent himself from killing her. Inspector Conway investigates Victor's murders and pieces together the evidence that Victor leaves behind.

Cast

as Victor James Colebrooke *

as Anne Fielding *

as Jack Williams *

as Chief Inspector Conway *

Stanley Holloway Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles Stanley Holloway on stage and screen, on stage and screen, especially t ...

as Sergeant Sullivan *

Barbara Everest Barbara Everest (19 June 1890 – 9 February 1968) was a British stage and film actress. She was born in Southfields, Surrey, and made her screen debut in the 1916 film ''The Man Without a Soul''. On stage she played Queen Anne in the 1935 his ...

as Mrs Colebrooke *

Bonar Colleano Bonar Sullivan (14 March 192417 August 1958), also known by the stage name Bonar Colleano, was an American stage and film actor based in the United Kingdom. Biography Early life Colleano was born Bonar Sullivan in New York City. He had childhood ...

as Corporal Nick Mappolo *

Jenny Laird Phyllis Edith Mary Blythe (13 February 1912 – 31 October 2001), known professionally as Jenny Laird, was a British stage, film and television actress. Early life and education Born in Manchester, Laird and her parents moved to the south, an ...

as Jeannie McLaren *

Kathleen Harrison Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working ...

as Florrie *

Bill Shine William Shine (born July 4, 1963) is a former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. He spent most of his career as a producer and executive at Fox News. Most recently, he was c ...

as Detective Ellis *

Viola Lyel Viola Lyel (19 December 1896 – 14 August 1972) was an English actress. In a long stage career she appeared in the West End and on Broadway, for leading directors of the day, including Sir Barry Jackson, and Nigel Playfair. Her roles ranged fr ...

as Mabel Cooper *

John Salew John Rylett Salew (1902 (some sources state 1 January 1897)14 September 1961) was an English stage film and TV actor. Salew made the transition from stage to films in 1939, and according to Allmovie, "the manpower shortage during WWII enabled ...

as Detective Walters *

John Ruddock John Ruddock (20 May 1897 – 24 September 1981) was a Peruvian-born British film and television actor. John Ruddock was born on 20 May 1897 in Lima, Peru as John Reynolds Ruddock. He was the first of seven children of his British father and Ame ...

as Glover, the tramp *Edna Wood as Miss Kemp *

George Carney George Carney (21 November 1887 – 9 December 1947) was a British comedian and film actor. Born in Bristol, he worked in the Liverpool Cotton Exchange, in a furniture business, then in the Belfast shipyards. In 1906 he made his debut stage ...

as Boat Rental Agent *

Wilfrid Hyde-White Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Ea ...

as Guide in Madame Tussaud's (as Wilfred Hyde White)

Music

The score, by the Russian-born émigré composer

Mischa Spoliansky Mischa Spoliansky (28 December 1898 – 28 June 1985) was a Russian-born composer who made his name writing cabaret and revue songs in the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and early 1930s, before he was forced to emigrate to London in 1933 when Hi ...

, includes extracts from a fake piano concerto, ''A Voice in the Night'' using the soloist Eric Harrison. It is an example of the so-called "Denham Concerto", a term coined by

Steve Race Stephen Russell "Steve" Race OBE (1 April 192122 June 2009) was a British composer, pianist and radio and television presenter. Biography Born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the son of a lawyer, Race learned the piano from the age of five.Spencer L ...

to describe the short romantic pieces, written for piano and orchestra for use in film scores, which became popular in Britain during the 1940s and 1950s, inspired by the success of

Richard Addinsell Richard Stewart Addinsell (13 January 190414 November 1977) was an English composer, best known for film music, primarily his ''Warsaw Concerto'', composed for the 1941 film ''Dangerous Moonlight'' (also known under the later title ''Suicide Squ ...

's ''

Warsaw Concerto The ''Warsaw Concerto'' is a short work for piano and orchestra by Richard Addinsell, written for the 1941 British film '' Dangerous Moonlight'', which is about the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by Nazi Germany. In performance it norma ...

'', composed for the film ''

Dangerous Moonlight ''Dangerous Moonlight'' (US: ''Suicide Squadron'') is a 1941 British film, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Anton Walbrook. Among the costumes, the gowns were designed by Cecil Beaton. The film is best known for its score written by ...

'' in 1941. Like the ''Warsaw Concerto'' and

Hubert Bath Hubert Charles Bath (6 November 188324 April 1945) was a British film composer, music director, and conductor. His credits include the music to the Oscar-winning documentary ''Wings Over Everest'' (1934), as well as to the films ''Tudor Rose'' ...

's ''Cornish Rhapsody'' (from '' Love Story'', 1944), ''A Voice in the Night'' was released commercially.

Production

The film was based on a play by

Terence de Marney Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer. Career Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of no ...

and Percy Robinson, which debuted on stage in London in 1937. De Marney played the killer in the original production. In January 1946 it was announced that 20th Century Fox had signed a deal with

Marcel Hellman Marcel Hellman (31 May 1898 – 28 April 1986) was a Romanian-born British film producer, who worked closely with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Harold French. In 1936 he founded Criterion Film Productions together with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., w ...

to make the film, for which Fox put up 50 per cent of the budget. The screenplay was one of two that

Emeric Pressburger Emeric Pressburger (born Imre József Pressburger; 5 December 19025 February 1988) was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a collaborat ...

wrote for Hellman, the other being for ''Men Against Britannia''. The film was shot at

Welwyn Studios Welwyn Studios was a British film studio located at Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. The facility operated between 1928 and 1950. The studios were first constructed by British Instructional Films, and converted to make s ...

and at Star House, 14, The Royal Exchange,

Chelsea Embankment Chelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, used as the home of

's character and his mother (

). There were also scenes filmed at Scotland Yard. In April 1946

Spyros Skouras Spyros Panagiotis Skouras (; gr, Σπύρος Σκούρας; March 28, 1893 – August 16, 1971) was a Greek-American motion picture pioneer and film executive who was the president of 20th Century-Fox from 1942 to 1962. He resigned June 27, 19 ...

signed a three-picture deal with Hellman for 20th Century Fox to distribute three of Hellman's films. The first was to be ''Wanted for Murder'', which had been completed. (The other films were ''

Meet Me at Dawn Meet may refer to: People with the name * Janek Meet (born 1974), Estonian footballer * Meet Mukhi (born 2005), Indian child actor Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Meet'' (TV series), an early Australian television series which aired on ABC du ...

'' and ''

This Was a Woman ''This Was a Woman'' is a 1948 British crime film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Sonia Dresdel, Walter Fitzgerald and Emrys Jones. It was made at the Riverside Studios with sets designed by the art directors Ivan King and Andrew Mazzei. ...

''.)

References

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

Copy of Correspondence with MPPA
at Margaret Herrick Library {{Lawrence Huntington 1946 films 1946 crime films 1940s serial killer films Films directed by Lawrence Huntington Films set in London British crime films British black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films

Plot

Cast

Music

Production

References

External links