''The Man Who Changed His Name'' is a 1934 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 Henry Edwards and starring

Lyn Harding David Llewellyn Harding (12 October 1867 – 26 December 1952), known professionally as Lyn Harding, was a Welsh actor who spent 40 years on the stage before entering British made silent films, talkies and radio. He had an imposing and menaci ...

Betty Stockfeld Betty Stockfeld (15 January 190527 January 1966), often misspelled "Stockfield", was an Australian film actress. She appeared mostly in British and French films. Betty was the daughter of Sydney businessman Harry Hooper Stockfeld and Susan Eli ...

and

Leslie Perrins Leslie Perrins (7 October 1901 – 13 December 1962) was an English actor who often played villains. After training at RADA, he was on stage from 1922, and in his long career, appeared in well over 60 films. Hobbies Perrins and wife Violet w ...

. It was based on the play '' The Man Who Changed His Name'' by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

. It was made as 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 ...

Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

. The film's

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

was by

James A. Carter James A. Carter (born 1902) was a British art director and occasional film producer. Carter was born in London in 1902. He studied at the Royal Academy of Art and the Royal Academy of Music, before beginning his career in the film industry at ...

Synopsis

A man appears to be being tricked out of a valuable piece of land in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

which contains lucrative silver deposits by his wife's lover. Both the potential villains begin to have second thoughts when gradually come to suspect that their intended victim, having since changed his name, is in fact a notorious killer from Canada. Eventually it transpires he was not the murderer, but is only using it as a trick to push his wife and her lover to reveal their deception out of fear.

Cast

as Selby Clive *

as Nita Clive *

as Frank Ryan *

Ben Welden Ben Welden (born Benjamin Weinblatt; June 12, 1901 – October 17, 1997) was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows. Early years Welden was born in Toledo, O ...

as Jerry Muller *

Aubrey Mather Aubrey Mather (17 December 1885 – 16 January 1958) was an English character actor. Career Mather was born in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, and began his career on the stage in 1905. He debuted in London in '' Brewster's Millions'' in ...

as Sir Ralph Whitcombe * Stanley Vine as Lane *

Richard Dolman Richard Dolman (November 30, 1895 – February 3, 1978) was a British stage and film actor. He worked frequently in musical theatre, appearing in Noël Coward's revue '' On with the Dance'' in 1925, and alongside Jessie Matthews in the 1927 revue ...

as John Boscombe

References

Bibliography

*Chibnall, Steve. ''Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film''. British Film Institute, 2007.

External links

* 1930s British films 1930s English-language films 1934 crime films 1934 films British black-and-white films British crime films Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Films directed by Henry Edwards Films set in England Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios {{1930s-UK-film-stub