''80,000 Suspects'' is a 1963 British

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Val Guest Val Guest (born Valmond Maurice Grossman; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer, for whom he direct ...

and starring

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

, Yolande Donlan, and

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his int ...

. It concerns an outbreak of smallpox in Bath, England.

Plot

Commencing on New Year's Eve in the city of Bath, Dr. Steven Monks (

) diagnoses a mystery patient as being infected with smallpox and sets in motion a citywide quarantine to contain the outbreak. His commitment to the task is affected by the deterioration of his marriage to ex-nurse Julie (

) following his clandestine affair with a family friend. Monks receives an unexpected blow when the disease strikes closer to home than anticipated and Julie is diagnosed as having contracted the virus. The medical team gradually contains the outbreak until only one unidentified case remains. The search narrows the identity of final carrier down to Ruth Preston ( Yolande Donlan), the woman with whom Monks had been having an affair and the wife of his close colleague Clifford (

Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was ...

). She's eventually traced to a deserted house where she's sheltering, lonely and desperately ill.

Cast

as Julie Monks *

as Steven Monks * Yolande Donlan as Ruth Preston *

as Father Maguire *

as Clifford Preston *

Mervyn Johns Mervyn Johns (born David Mervyn John; 18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television character actor who became a star of British films during the Second World War. Johns was known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubri ...

as Buckridge *

Kay Walsh Kathleen "Kay" Walsh (15 November 1911 – 16 April 2005) was an English actress, dancer, and screenwriter. Her film career prospered after she met her future husband film director David Lean, with whom she worked on prestige productions such a ...

as Matron *

Norman Bird John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Early life Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End theatre, West End debut in Peter Brook's produ ...

as Harold Davis *

Vanda Godsell Vanda Godsell (17 November 1922 – 2 April 1990) was an English actress. Hal Erickson writes in Allmovie, "Vanda Godsell specialised in playing disheveled housewives, busybody landladies and blowsy domestics." She appeared as Mrs Weaver in ...

as Agnes Davis *

Basil Dignam Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor. Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...

as Medical Officer *

Arthur Christiansen Arthur Robin Christiansen (27 July 1904 – 27 September 1963) was a British journalist, and editor of Lord Beaverbrook's newspaper the '' Daily Express'' from 1933 to 1957. Christiansen was born in Wallasey, Cheshire to Louis Niels Chris ...

as Editor *

Ray Barrett Raymond Charles Barrett (2 May 19278 September 2009) was an Australian actor. During the 1960s, he was a leading actor on British television, where he was best known for his appearances in ''The Troubleshooters'' (1965–1971). From the 1970s, ...

as Bennett * Andrew Crawford as Dr. Ruddling *

Jill Curzon Jill Curzon is an English actress best known for her film and television appearances during the 1960s.Jill Curzon
at t ...

as Nurse Jill *

Ursula Howells Ursula Howells (17 September 1922 – 16 October 2005) was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television. Life and career Howells was born in London, the daughter of composer Herbert Howells, ...

as Joanna Druten *

as Medical Officer Boswell *

as Mr Gracey *

as Health Inspector Bennett * David Weston as Brian Davis (uncredited) *Pauline Barker as Clara (uncredited) *

Joby Blanshard John Henry "Joby" Blanshard (7 November 1919 – 26 November 1992) was an English film and television actor, most famous for playing Colin Bradley in 32 episodes of the early 1970s "science-fact" series, ''Doomwatch''. Filmography * ''The Pas ...

as Health Inspector Matthews (uncredited) *

Felix Bowness Felix Hervè Talbot Bowness (30 March 1922 – 13 September 2009) was a British comedy actor who was best remembered for his portrayal of the jockey Fred Quilley in the BBC sitcom ''Hi-de-Hi!.'' Biography Born in the village of Harwell, ...

as Wellford (uncredited) *

Olwen Brookes Olwen Brookes (26 November 1901 – 17 September 1976) was an English actress, known for '' An Inspector Calls'', '' The Happiest Days of Your Life'' and ''The First Night of Pygmalion''. Her career spanned over a quarter of a century, and as wel ...

as Senior Nursing Officer (uncredited) * Victor Brooks as Health Inspector Collins (uncredited) *

Gerald Case (Thomas) Gerald Case (1905 – 22 May 1985) was a British film and television actor known for his role in the 1976 Wodehouse Playhouse episode, 'Strychnine in the Soup'. He was the son of Captain Thomas Elphinstone Case, of the Coldstream Guards ...

as Chief Administration Officer (uncredited) *

Norman Chappell Norman Chappell (31 December 1925, Lucknow, India – 21 July 1983) was an English character actor, known for numerous roles in television and film. Biography Born in India, during the British Raj Chappell appeared mainly in television series as ...

as Welford (uncredited) *Rachel Clay as Jane Davis (uncredited) *H. Leonard Coggins as Waiter (uncredited) *

Richard Coleman Richard Coleman (20 January 1930 – 16 December 2008) was a British film, television and stage actor. Early life Richard Coleman was born Ronald Coleman in Peckham, London in 1930. He was educated at Wilson's Grammar School, Peckham. A ...

as Scott James (uncredited) *Maureen Crombie as Auxiliary Nurse (uncredited) *Monti DeLyle as Night Porter (uncredited) *

Marian Diamond Marian Cleeves Diamond (November 11, 1926 – July 25, 2017) was an American scientist and educator who is considered one of the founders of modern neuroscience. She and her team were the first to publish evidence that the brain can change with ...

as Sister Durrell (uncredited) *

Suzan Farmer Suzan Maxine Farmer (16 June 1942 – 17 September 2017) was an English film and television actress. She was regularly cast in movies produced by Hammer Films. Early life The daughter of David Farmer, a trader in metals, and Eleanor (née Bes ...

as Carole (uncredited) * Leonie Forbes as Nurse Vicky (uncredited) *Stewart Guidotti as Sidney Davis (uncredited) * Alan Keith as Health Inspector Sanders (uncredited) *Bruce Lewis as Himself - TV Reporter (uncredited) * Peter Madden as Ambulance Driver (uncredited) *Terry Martin as Guildhall Sergeant (uncredited) *

Carmel McSharry Carmel Evelyn McSharry (18 August 1926 – 4 March 2018) was an Irish character actress, best known for her roles as Beryl Humphries in ''Beryl's Lot'' (1973–77), a daytime ITV serial, and as Mrs. Hollingbery in ''In Sickness and in Health''. ...

as Cleaner (uncredited) *

John Merivale John Herman Merivale (1 December 1917 – 6 February 1990) was a Canadian-born British theatre actor, and occasional supporting player in British films. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, John Merivale was the son of English actors Philip M ...

as Mr Bradley (uncredited) *

Graham Moffatt Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-sa ...

as Fat Man in Vaccination Queue (uncredited) *

Bruce Montague Bruce Alexander Montague (24 March 1939 – 16 August 2022) was a British actor, best known for his role as Leonard Dunn in the television sitcom ''Butterflies (TV series), Butterflies''. He also acted in over 300 television productions – one ...

as Brooks (uncredited) *Ian Parsons as Health Inspector (uncredited) *Lisa Peake as Nurse Lisa (uncredited) *David Rose as Health Inspector (uncredited) *Guy Thomas as Himself - Newsreader (uncredited) *Kim Tracy as Daphne Davis (uncredited) *

Russell Waters Russell Waters (born 10 June 1908, Glasgow, Lanarkshire – died 19 August 1982, Richmond, Surrey) was a Scottish film actor. Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the ...

as Town Clerk of Bath (uncredited) *Joseph Wise as Deputy Health Minister (uncredited) *Anthony Flagg as Telegraph Engineer (uncredited)

External links

* * British Movie Director

''Retrieved 2010-03-11.'' * Original Clip from fil

''Retrieved 2010-03-11.'' * Opening scenes Clip from fil

''Retrieved 2010-03-11.'' * * Val Guest - Obituary, 15 May 2006 - The Independen

''Retrieved 2010-03-12.'' {{Val Guest 1963 films British drama films Films directed by Val Guest Films set in Bath, Somerset 1963 drama films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films