''Forbidden Territory'' is a 1934 British
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
Phil Rosen
Philip E. Rosen (May 8, 1888 – October 22, 1951) was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed more than 140 films between 1915 and 1949.
He was born in Malbork, Marienburg, German Empire (now, Malbork, Poland), grew up ...
and starring
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff (born Grigory Vasilyevich Ratner; russian: Григорий Васильевич Ратнер, tr. ; April 20, c. 1893 – December 14, 1960) was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was bes ...
,
Ronald Squire
Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor.
Biography
Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Sq ...
and
Binnie Barnes
Gertrude Maud Barnes (25 March 1903 – 27 July 1998), known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973.
Early life
Barnes was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Rosa Enoy ...
. It was based on the 1933 novel ''
The Forbidden Territory'' by
Dennis Wheatley.
[Shaw p.15]
The film, about an Englishman and his son who travel to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
to rescue a family member being held in prison, was made at the
Lime Grove Studios of
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...
in
Shepherd's Bush. The film's sets were designed by the
art director Oscar Werndorff.
Plot
Cast
*
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff (born Grigory Vasilyevich Ratner; russian: Григорий Васильевич Ратнер, tr. ; April 20, c. 1893 – December 14, 1960) was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was bes ...
as Alexei Leshki
*
Ronald Squire
Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor.
Biography
Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Sq ...
as Sir Charles Farringdon
*
Binnie Barnes
Gertrude Maud Barnes (25 March 1903 – 27 July 1998), known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973.
Early life
Barnes was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Rosa Enoy ...
as Valerie Petrovna
*
Tamara Desni
Tamara Desni (22 October 19137 February 2008) was a German-born British actress She appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
Desni was born in Berlin as Tamara Brodsky, as Marie-Louise
*
Barry MacKay as Michael Farringdon
*
Anthony Bushell
Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and al ...
as Rex Farringdon
*
Anton Dolin as Jack Straw
*
Marguerite Allan
Helen Marguerite Allan (30 August 1905 – 29 January 1994) was a Russian-born British actress, who appeared in film roles between 1928 and 1942 Allan was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia before moving to the United Kingdom, where she married Ken ...
as Fenya
* Boris Ranevsky as Runov
References
Bibliography
* Shaw, Tony. ''British Cinema and the Cold War: The State, Propaganda and Consensus''. I.B.Tauris, 2006.
External links
*
1934 films
British thriller drama films
Films directed by Phil Rosen
Films set in Moscow
Films set in Romania
Films set in the Soviet Union
Films based on British novels
Films based on works by Dennis Wheatley
Films shot at Lime Grove Studios
British black-and-white films
1930s thriller drama films
1934 drama films
1930s English-language films
1930s British films
{{1930s-thriller-film-stub