''Crown v. Stevens'' is a 1936 British

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a serie ...

. It was made as a

quota quickie The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 ('' 17 & 18 Geo. V'') was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received Royal Assent on 20 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. D ...

Plot

Ex-dancer Doris Stevens kills a moneylender who is pressing her for settlement of her debt and threatening to tell her respectable husband. Jansen, who also owes money, sees her there but does not report her. Later, Jansen finds out the woman is his employer's wife. He later accidentally intervenes when Doris attempts to also murder her dull and stingy husband.

Cast

Beatrix Thomson Beatrix Thomson (1900–1986) was a British stage actress. She also made a handful of appearances in film and television. A graduate of RADA, she made her West End debut in John Galsworthy's '' Loyalties'' in 1922. She was married to the actor ...

as Doris Stevens *

Patric Knowles Reginald Lawrence Knowles (11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995), better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second fi ...

as Chris Jensen *

Glennis Lorimer Glennis Lorimer (''Glennis Dorothy Browne''; 27 April 1913 – 17 November 1968) was a British people, British actress, who appeared in a number of films during the 1930s. She also appeared in the Gainsborough Pictures logo before the opening cr ...

as Miss Molly Hobbes *

Reginald Purdell Reginald Purdell (4 November 1896 – 22 April 1953) was an English actor and screenwriter who appeared in over 40 films between 1930 and 1951. During the same period he also contributed to the screenplays of 15 feature films, such as '' Th ...

as Alf *

Allan Jeayes Allan John Jeayes (19 January 1885 – 20 September 1963) was an English stage and film actor. Jeayes was born in London Borough of Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, the son of Isaac Herbert Jeayes, archivist and Assistant Keeper of Manuscript ...

as Inspector Carter *

Frederick Piper Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at the ...

as Arthur Stevens *

Googie Withers Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 191715 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. ...

as Ella Levine *

Mabel Poulton Mabel Lilian Poulton (29 July 1901 – 21 December 1994) was an English film actress, popular in Britain during the era of silent films. Career Born in Bethnal Green, London, England, Poulton worked as a stenographer and entered films by ...

as Mamie *

Morris Harvey Morris Harvey (25 September 187724 August 1944) was a British actor and writer. A renowned character actor, he also wrote for the stage, including material for Broadway revues, in which he also appeared. He was the stepfather of film director Ant ...

as Maurice Bayleck (uncredited) *

Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th ce ...

as Detective Wells (uncredited)

Critical reception

At the time of the film's release, ''

Kinematograph Weekly ''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971. History ''Kinematograph Weekly'' was founded in 1889 as the monthly publication ''Optical Magic Lantern ...

'' called it a "Vivid portrayal of a young woman who commits murder and then tries to poison her husband, thereby involving his employee, a witness to the former crime. Plot is entirely suited to those who do not demand that a crime story should justify its existence by reaching too high an artistic level in theme, acting or presentation. Definitely unsuited to the family, the picture may nevertheless find a place in the average programme as a quota thriller"; while more recently, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' called it "Occasionally suspenseful," though opined "the plot is soggy and the actors all wet"; whereas Dennis Schwartz noted "a very entertaining little melodrama," and concluded "The acting honors go to (Beatrix) Thomson. The stage actress was superb as the quintessential

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

, and easily steals this film from her capable co-stars."

References

External links

* * * *
Reviews and articles
at th
Powell & Pressburger Pages
British crime thriller films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Michael Powell Films by Powell and Pressburger Quota quickies 1930s crime thriller films Films shot at Teddington Studios Films set in London Warner Bros. films British black-and-white films 1930s British films {{crime-thriller-film-stub