''Rynox'' is a 1932 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

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 ...

and starring

Stewart Rome Stewart Rome (born Septimus William Ryott; 30 January 1886 – 26 February 1965) was an English actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1913 and 1950. He was born in Newbury, Berkshire in 1886 and took the stage name of Stewart Rome ...

John Longden John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Biography Longden was born in the West Indies, the son o ...

and

Dorothy Boyd Dorothy Boyd (14 April 1907 – 1996) was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1926 and 1940. She was born in Sanderstead, Surrey, England and died in England. Without any previous stage experience, she came ...

. ''Rynox'' was adapted from a 1930 novel by popular thriller writer of the day

Philip MacDonald Philip MacDonald (5 November 1900 – 10 December 1980) was a British-born writer of fiction and screenplays, best known for Thriller (genre), thrillers. Life and work MacDonald was born in London, the son of author Ronald MacDonald and actress ...

. It was made at

Walton Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.second feature A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

. For many years ''Rynox'' was believed to be among the

lost films A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

of Powell's 1931–1936

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 ...

period; however an original print was found in 1990 in the vaults of

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

and was subsequently transferred and restored by the

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

Plot summary

Wealthy businessman F.X. Benedik (Rome), head of the Rynox company, claims to have been receiving threats from a mysterious stranger named Boswell Marsh. Benedik is subsequently found murdered and the hunt is on for the elusive Marsh. Benedik's son Tony (Longden) takes over the running of the business and tries to find some lead on Marsh, and why he should have borne a murderous grudge against Benedik Senior. His investigations lead him to the unexpected finding that Marsh never existed. After discovering that he was terminally ill, his father had committed suicide, having staged the elaborate deception about the non-existent Marsh in an attempt to cover the fact that he intended to take his own life.

Cast

as Boswell Marsh/F.X. Benedik *

as Tony Benedik *

as Peter *

Charles Paton Charles Ernest Paton (31 July 1874 – 10 April 1970) was an English film actor. He joined the circus at 14, and had early stage and music hall experience. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1927 and 1952, including ''Freedom of the ...

as Samuel Richworth * Leslie Mitchell as Woolrich * Edward Willard as Capt. James * Fletcher Lightfoot as Prout * Sybil Grove as Secretary

Reception

Although shot on a tight budget (Powell's own recollections varied between £4,500 and £8,000) ''Rynox'' was exceptionally well received by contemporary critics. Writing in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', noted critic C. A. Lejeune presciently remarked: "Powell's ''Rynox'' shows what a good movie brain can do... this is the sort of pressure under which a real talent is shot red-hot into the world." Documentary film pioneer

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fla ...

declared the film "as good as Hollywood" and that "there never was an English film so well-made". A 21st-century assessment by Sergio Angelini of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

states: "Powell's direction already shows his characteristic energy and visual imagination, as well as his debt to the German Expressionist cinema of the 1920s. ''Rynox'' is full of quick cuts, tracking shots, unusual angles as well as montages, all of which help effectively to draw attention away from ...the film's small budget."''Rynox''
Angelini, Sergio. BFI Screen Online. ''Retrieved 12 August 2010''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rynox 1932 films 1932 crime films British crime films Films directed by Michael Powell Films by Powell and Pressburger British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films based on British novels 1930s rediscovered films Films set in London Rediscovered British films 1930s British films Quota quickies Films shot at Nettlefold Studios Ideal Film Company films

Plot summary

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links