''House of Secrets'' (

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

) is a 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 Guy Green, filmed in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

and

VistaVision VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954. Paramount never used anamorphic processes such as 2.55: 1, CinemaScope but refi ...

, and starring Michael Craig,

Anton Diffring Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...

, and

Gérard Oury Gérard Oury (born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish orig ...

Cast

* Michael Craig - Larry Ellis / Steve Chancellor *

- Anton Lauderbach *

- Julius Pindar * Brenda De Banzie - Madame Isabella Ballu *

Geoffrey Keen Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early li ...

- Colonel Burleigh, CIA *

David Kossoff David Kossoff (24 November 1919 – 23 March 2005) was a British actor. In 1954 he won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his appearance as Geza Szobek in '' The Young Lovers''. He played Alf Larkin in TV sit ...

- Henryk van de Heide, CIA *

Barbara Bates Barbara Jane Bates (August 6, 1925 – March 18, 1969) was an American singer and actress, best known for her portrayal of Phoebe in the 1950 drama film ''All About Eve''. and as Katy Morgan on '' It's a Great Life'' (1954–1956). Early life ...

- Judy Anderson *

Alan Tilvern Alan Tilvern (5 November 1918 – 17 December 2003) was an English actor. He was known for usually playing "tough-guy" roles. Life Tilvern was born 5 November 1918 in Whitechapel, in the East End of London, to Jewish-Lithuanian parents, who c ...

- Brandelli *

Julia Arnall Julia Arnall (21 November 1928 – 8 November 2018) was a German-born British-based actress. Personal life Born Julia Ilse Hendrike Irmgard von Stein Liebenstein zu Bachfeld in 1928 in Munich, she spent her childhood in Berlin, where her fathe ...

- Diane Gilbert *

Gordon Tanner Gordon Tanner (July 17, 1918–August 3, 1983) was a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many ...

- Curtice *

Eugene Deckers Eugene Francis Deckers (22 October 1917, in Antwerp – 1977, in Paris, France) was a Belgian actor. Career After establishing himself on the British stage, Deckers made his first English language film appearance in 1946. Formerly a romantic le ...

- Vidal *

Eric Pohlmann Eric Pohlmann (german: Erich Pohlmann; born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, th ...

- Gratz * Jean Driant - Gratz's assistant (uncredited) *

Carl Jaffe Carl Jaffe (21 March 1902 – 12 April 1974) was a German actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg, Kassel and Wiesbaden before moving to Berlin, where his career began to develop. In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Fran ...

- Walter Dorffman

Plot

The film, based on the novel ''Storm Over Paris'' by Sterling Noel, follows a man who is sent undercover to infiltrate an international crime organization planning to inundate the UK with huge amounts of near perfect forged UK Bank Notes to damage the UK Economy. In this very well-made Glossy Colourful British Film Michael Craig (Larry Ellis) is similar to an early James Bond character. The only thing which might spoil it for some viewers is the slightly abrupt ending. Beautifully photographed entirely in Paris, France.

Production

Michael Craig called his part "a sort of forerunner to the James Bond type of movie" which "in spite of all our best efforts it ended up being fairly boring." He was paid £30 a week. The film was shot on location in France.

References

External links

* * 1956 films 1956 crime films British crime films 1950s English-language films Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films directed by Guy Green Films set in France 1950s British films {{1950s-crime-film-stub