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''Crook's Tour'' is a 1941 black and white British film directed by
John Baxter featuring
Charters and Caldicott
Charters and Caldicott started out as two supporting characters in the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock film '' The Lady Vanishes''. The pair of cricket-obsessed characters were played by Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford. The characters were created by F ...
. It is adapted from a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio serial of the same name.
Plot
Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East (
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
) with fellow Britons. After their vehicle breaks down they meet a caravan and a local sheikh invites them to dinner. After a glass of wine the sheikh offers to lend them two camels and tells of his fears that someone is spying on his oilfield.
They return to
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
where they go to a night club. Here two spies are expected and a
Mata Hari
Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari (), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed ...
type figure (the glamorous La Palermo) delivers a note (hidden on a record) to them in error, because they order exactly what the true spies are meant to order (as a code). When the real spies arrive (two Americans) and make the same order the mistake is realised.
Meanwhile our two heroes are flying to
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
. Here they are directed to a false hotel. La Palermo is to sing there to let them know something is up. They plan to kill the pair. They put them in a room with a booby trap bathroom... just a large hole dropping into the
Bosporus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...
. Charters slaps someone on the back, believing it to be Caldicott, and he falls in. Fearing reprisal for this accidental death they catch a plane to
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
. Charters' sister Edith arrives in Budapest and struggles to track their hotel. La Palermo breaks into Caldicott's room to try to find the record. The next evening they track down La Palermo singing in a local night club, singing "Gypsy Lover".
The pair give the record to an English contact but are astounded when he says he does not play
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
.
They take a train eastwards to the edge of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. They climb to a hilltop castle where La Palermo is. They are caught and are shot by firing squad, but La Palermo has organised blanks in the guns and they all escape together. A driver rushes all three to an airport then they take a boat across the Adriatic before going back to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. La Palermo kisses Caldicott as their train approaches London.
Cast
*
Basil Radford
Arthur Basil RadfordAdam Greaves, "Radford, (Arthur) Basil (1897–1952)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, May 201available online Retrieved 3 August 2020. (25 June 189720 October 1952) was an English charac ...
as Charters
*
Naunton Wayne
Naunton Wayne (born Henry Wayne Davies, 22 June 1901 – 17 November 1970), was a Welsh character actor, born in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales. He was educated at Clifton College. His name was changed by deed poll in 1933.
Stage actor
His firs ...
as Caldicott
*
Greta Gynt
Greta Gynt (born Margrethe Woxholt; 15 November 1916 – 2 April 2000) was a Norwegian dancer and actress. She is remembered for her starring roles in the British classic films '' The Dark Eyes of London'', ''Mr. Emmanuel'', ''Take My Life'', '' ...
as La Palermo
*
Charles Oliver as Sheik
*
Gordon McLeod as Rossenger
*
Abraham Sofaer as Ali
*
Bernard Rebel
Bernard Rebel (6 October 1901, Poland – 30 September 1964, London, England) was a Polish-born British actor. His work included the role of Wormtongue in the 1955-56 BBC radio version of ''The Lord of the Rings''.
Selected filmography
* ' ...
as Klacken
* Cyril Gardiner as K.7.
* Leo de Pokorny as Hotel Manager
*
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 Waiter
*
Noel Hood
Margaret Noel Hood (25 December 1909 – 15 October 1979) was a British actress. She was married to the Irish-born actor Charles Oliver.
Filmography Film
* '' Crook's Tour'' (1940) as Edith Charters
* '' Personal Affair'' (1953) as 4th Gossip ...
as Edith Charters
*
Finlay Currie as Tourist (uncredited)
*
Andreas Malandrinos as Nightclub Manager (uncredited)
*
Patricia Medina
Patricia Paz Maria Medina (19 July 1919 – 28 April 2012) was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films ''Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) and ''Mr. Arkadin'' (1955).
Early life
Medina was the daughter of Laure ...
as Hotel Receptionist (uncredited)
*
Jack Melford
John Kenneth George Melford Smith (5 September 1899 – 22 October 1972) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Biography
Melford was the younger brother of screenwriter and film director Austin Melford. On stage from the age of 12, ...
as Tour Guide (uncredited)
Availability
The film is available as a supplement on ''
The Lady Vanishes
''The Lady Vanishes'' is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel ''The Wheel Spins'' by Ethel L ...
''
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
DVD and Blu-ray.
References
External links
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1941 films
1941 comedy films
1940s English-language films
British black-and-white films
British comedy films
British spy comedy films
Films set in Baghdad
Films shot at British National Studios
1940s British films
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