''The Dark Stairway'' is a 1938 British crime film, directed by

Arthur B. Woods Arthur Bickerstaffe Woods (17 August 1904 – 8 February 1944) was an English film director with 27 credits between 1933 and 1940. Woods' films were mainly quota quickies but were diverse in style, from light comedy and musicals to dark crime ...

and starring

Hugh Williams Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (6 March 1904 – 7 December 1969) was a British actor and dramatist of Welsh descent. Early life and career Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (nicknamed "Tam") was born at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex to Hugh Dafydd Anth ...

Chili Bouchier Chili Bouchier (born Dorothy Irene Boucher; 12 September 1909 – 9 September 1999) was an English film actress who achieved success during the silent film era, and went on to many screen appearances with the advent of sound films, before progre ...

and

Garry Marsh Garry Marsh (21 June 1902 – 6 March 1981) was an English stage and film actor. Born Leslie Marsh Gerahty in St Margarets, Surrey, his parents were George and Laura. His elder brothers were the author Digby George Gerahty and the journalist ...

. The film was a

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 ...

production, based on the 1931 novel ''From This Dark Stairway'' by

Mignon G. Eberhart Mignon Good Eberhart (July 6, 1899, Lincoln, Nebraska – October 8, 1996, Greenwich, Connecticut) was an American author of mystery novels. She had one of the longest careers (from the 1920s to the 1980s) among major American mystery writers. Ear ...

. In the film, professional jealousy and rivalry erupts in a hospital over the discovery of a revolutionary new formula for anaesthetic, leading to murder. ''The Dark Stairway'' is now classed as a

lost film 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 ...

.Missing Believed Lost
British Pictures Article Archive.

Cast

as Dr. Thurlow *

as Betty Trimmer *

as Dr. Mortimer *

Reginald Purdell Reginald Purdell (4 November 1896 – 22 April 1953) was an English actor and screenwriter who appeared in over 40 films between 1930 and 1951. During the same period he also contributed to the screenplays of 15 feature films, such as '' Th ...

as Askew *

Lesley Brook Lesley Brook (18 February 1917 – 7 February 2009) was a British stage, film and television actress. Married to an RAF pilot, Terry Spencer, she moved after the war to South Africa for 15 years before returning to the UK. They had three childr ...

as Mary Cresswell * Aubrey Pollock as Dr. Cresswell *

Glen Alyn Glenore Jean Pointing (1913–1984), known professionally as Glen Alyn, was an Australian actress who appeared in British films from the 1930s until 1957. Originally a dancer in West End revue, she made her film debut in '' The Outsider'' (1931 ...

as Isabel Simmonds * John Carol as Merridew *

Robert Rendel Robert Rendel (2 December 1884, in St Mary Abbots Kensington, London – 9 May 1944, in Marylebone, London) was a British actor of stage, screen, television and radio. Career His stage work included roles in the original Broadway theatre, Broadw ...

as Dr. Fletcher

References

External links

*
''The Dark Stairway''
at BFI Film & TV Database 1938 films 1938 crime films Films directed by Arthur B. Woods Lost British films British black-and-white films Films based on American novels British crime films 1938 lost films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{1930s-crime-film-stub