''The Dark Stairway'' is a 1953 British short film. It was one of a series of shorts made for British cinemas as second features in the 1950s made by

Anglo-Amalgamated Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971 (after which it was absorbed into EMI Films). Low-budget and second features, often produced at M ...

at the

Merton Park Studios Merton Park Studios, opened in 1929, was a British film production studio located at Long Lodge, 269 Kingston Road in Merton Park, South London. In the 1940s, it was owned by Piprodia Entertainment, Nikhanj Films and Film Producers Guild. Peter M ...

as part of the '' Scotland Yard'' film series. They are narrated by crime writer Edgar Lustgarten, and were subsequently broadcast as television episodes. The film was also known as '' The Greek Street Murder''.''Scotland Yard'' at CTVA
accessed 25 June 2014

Plot

A blind man, George Benson, witnesses the murder of Harry Carpenter by Joe Lloyd. Benson finds himself accused of the murder. Inspector Jack Harmer finds the murder weapon and discovers Carpenter was murdered because he betrayed Lloyd to the police. Benson manages to identify Lloyd by his ring, voice and hair products' smell.

Cast

Russell Napier Russell Gordon Napier (28 November 1910 – 19 August 1974) was an Australian actor. Biography Russell Napier was born in Perth, Western Australia. Originally a lawyer, Napier was active as an actor on the stage as early as 1936; on the scree ...

as Inspector Harmer *

Vincent Ball Vincent Martin Ball OAM (born 4 December 1923) is an Australian retired character actor of radio, stage and screen, active in the industry for nearly 55 years (with a brief return) firstly in Britain and then his native Australia. He has also ...

as Sergeant Gifford *George Manship as George Benson *

Edwin Richfield Edwin Richfield (11 September 1921 – 2 August 1990) was an English actor. Career Richfield starred in the television series '' Interpol Calling'' (1959). He was '' The Odd Man'' in Granada Television's series of the same name in the early 1 ...

as Joe Lloyd Napier reappeared as Inspector Harmer in the 1954 episode ''The Strange Case of Blondie'', but subsequently went on to play Inspector Duggan in thirteen episodes between 1956 and 1961.

References

External links

*
''The Dark Stairway''
at

BFI 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 (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

1953 films British crime films 1953 crime films British short films 1953 short films British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films {{short-film-stub