British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
mystery film
A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...
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 seri ...
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 ...
,
Jane Baxter
Jane Baxter (9 September 1909 – 13 September 1996) was a British actress. Her stage career spanned half a century, and she appeared in a number of films and in television.
Early life
Baxter was born as Feodora Kathleen Alice Forde in Bremen, ...
,
Ronald Ward
Ronald Ward (5 April 1901 – 31 March 1978) was a British actor who, alongside his stage work, appeared in more than twenty British films between 1931 and 1956. He was born in Eastbourne in 1901 as Ronald William Ward, and made his screen ...
Henry Oscar
Henry Wale (14 July 1891 – 28 December 1969), known professionally as Henry Oscar, was an English stage and film actor. He changed his name and began acting in 1911, having studied under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Dram ...
and
Peter Gawthorne
Peter Gawthorne (1 September 1884 – 17 March 1962) was an Anglo-Irish actor, probably best known for his roles in the films of Will Hay and other popular British comedians of the 1930s and 1940s. Gawthorne was one of Britain's most called-upo ...
. A man assaults and switches places with another at a masked ball, and then attempts a major theft – casting suspicion on the original man.
''The Man Behind the Mask'' was produced by
Joe Rock
Joe Rock (born Joseph Simberg, December 25, 1893 – December 5, 1984) was an American film producer, director, actor,Obituary '' Variety'', December 12, 1984, page 63. and screenwriter. He produced a series of 12 two reel short subject comedies ...
, for Joe Rock Productions. It was made at Rock Studios, Elstree.
''The Man Behind the Mask'' was missing from 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 ...
, and was one of three Powell films included on 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 (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
's " 75 Most Wanted" list of lost films. It is the last of Powell's "
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 ...
s".
A print of the American release, titled ''Behind the Mask'', has been found, but it is a cut version of the original UK film.
Cast
References
Bibliography
* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
* Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.