''They Came by Night'' is a 1940 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

Harry Lachman Harry B. Lachman (June 29, 1886 – March 19, 1975) was an American artist, set designer, and film director. He was born in La Salle, Illinois on June 29, 1886. Lachman was educated at the University of Michigan before becoming a magazine and bo ...

and starring Will Fyffe,

Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 19 ...

and

Anthony Hulme Anthony Hulme (1910–2007) was a British film actor. Filmography * ''A Yank at Oxford'' (1938) * '' The Body Vanished'' (1939) * ''The Frozen Limits'' (1939) * ''They Came by Night'' (1940) * '' Laugh It Off'' (1940) * '' For Freedom'' (1940) * ...

.BFI.org
/ref> It was made at the

Islington Studios Islington Studios, often known as Gainsborough Studios, were a British film studio located on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London between 1919 and 1949. The studi ...

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

and released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

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

Alex Vetchinsky Alex Vetchinsky ( Alec Hyman Vetchinsky; 9 November 1904 - 4 March 1980) was a BAFTA nominated British film art director and production designer. He worked on more than a hundred productions during a career that lasted between 1928 and 1974. Vet ...

. It was based on the West End play of the same title by

Barré Lyndon Barré Lyndon (pseudonym of Alfred Edgar) (12 August 1896 – 23 October 1972) was a British playwright and screenwriter. The pseudonym was presumably taken from the title character of Thackeray's 1844 novel. Born in London, he may be best rem ...

Synopsis

The screenplay concerns a man who is blackmailed into taking his brother's place in a gang for a jewellery heist.

Cast

* Will Fyffe as James Fothergill *

as Sally *

as Sergeant Tolly * George Merritt as Inspector Metcalfe *

Kathleen Harrison Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working ...

as Mrs. Lightbody *

John Glyn-Jones John Glyn-Jones (28 August 1908 – 21 January 1997) was a British stage, radio, television and film actor. His father, William Glyn-Jones, was a Member of Parliament and he was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and Oxford University. He ...

as Llewellyn Jones *

Athole Stewart Athole Chalmers Stewart (25 June 1879 – 18 October 1940) was a British stage and latterly film actor, often in authoritarian or aristocratic roles. On stage, he played in the original production of Noël Coward's '' Hay Fever'' at the Ambassa ...

as Lord Netfherly * Cees Laseur as Vollaire *

Hal Walters Henry Paul "Hal" Walters (29 January 1892 – 7 September 1940) was a British actor. He was best known for his role in ''The Four Feathers'' (1939). He was killed by a bomb in an air raid during the London Blitz. Selected filmography * ''Just ...

as Hopkins *

Kuda Bux Kuda Bux (17 February 1905 – 5 February 1981), born Khudah Bukhsh, was a Pakistani mystic, magician and firewalker. Performances Blindfolds In one of his best known performances he would cover his eyes with soft dough balls, blindfold ...

as Ali *

Leo Britt Leo Ernest Britt (27 March 1908 – 1979) was a British-American actor. He made about 40 film and television appearances between 1933 and 1975, both in England and the United States. He is perhaps best-remembered as the storyteller at a party ...

as George * Sylvie St. Clair as Claire *

Wally Patch Walter Sydney Vinnicombe (26 September 1888 – 27 October 1970) was an English actor and comedian. He worked in film, television and theatre. Biography Vinnicombe was born in Willesden, Middlesex and began working on the music hall stages in ...

as Bugsie

References

External links

* 1940 films 1940 crime films Films directed by Harry Lachman British crime films Films set in London Gainsborough Pictures films Islington Studios films British films based on plays 20th Century Fox films British black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films {{1940s-crime-film-stub