''The Clue of the New Pin'' is a 1929

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, ...

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 combin ...

directed by

Arthur Maude Arthur John Maude (23 July 1880 – 9 January 1950) was an English actor, screenwriter, and film director. Biography Maude was born Arthur John Maud on 23 July 1880 in Pontefract, West Riding, Yorkshire, to William Robert Maud (1849–1919) and ...

and starring

Benita Hume Benita Hume (14 October 1907 – 1 November 1967) was an English theatre and film actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1925 and 1955. Life and career She was married to film actor Ronald Colman from 1938 to his death in 1958 ...

Kim Peacock Kim Peacock (1901–1966) was born on 24 March 1901 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. He was an actor and writer, known for ''Midnight at the Wax Museum'' (1936), ''BBC Sunday-Night Theatre'' (1950) and ''Hit Parade'' (1952). He died on 26 Decem ...

, and Donald Calthrop. It was made at

Beaconsfield Studios Beaconsfield Film Studios is a British television and film studio in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The studios were operational as a production site for films in 1922, and continued producing films - and, later, TV shows - until the 1960s. B ...

. The film was one of only 10 filmed in British Phototone, a

sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent syste ...

system which used 12-inch discs. All of the other nine films made in this process were short films. In March 1929, this film and '' The Crimson Circle'', filmed in the De Forest

Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. Introduction In 1919 and 1920, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film proce ...

sound-on-film Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...

system, were 'trade-shown' to cinema exhibitors.BFI Database entry
/ref> This film is an adaptation of the 1923 novel '' The Clue of the New Pin'' 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 later remade in 1961.

Plot

A wealthy recluse is murdered in an absolutely sealed room.

Cast

as Ursula Ardfern *

as Tab Holland * Donald Calthrop as Yeh Ling *

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

as Rex Trasmere *

Harold Saxon-Snell Harold Saxon-Snell (1889–1956) was a British stage and film actor. He appeared in twenty-three films during the silent and early sound eras. He is often credited as H. Saxon-Snell or Harold Snell. He and actress Kathleen Boutall married in 19 ...

as Walters *

Johnny Butt John William H. Butt (1870–1931) was an English film actor of the silent era. He was born in Bradford and died in North Bierley, West Yorkshire. Selected filmography * ''The Chimes'' (1914) * ''Far from the Madding Crowd'' (1915) * '' The Gr ...

as Wellington Briggs *

Colin Kenny James Colin Ramsey Kenny (born December 10, 1943) is a former Canadian Senator. A member of the Liberal Party, he was appointed to the Senate in 1984 by Pierre Trudeau to represent the Rideau region of Ontario. On January 31, 2018 it was anno ...

as Inspector Carver

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''History of the British Film, 1918-1929''. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.

External links

*
''The Clue of the New Pin'' (1929) at SilentEra
1929 films 1929 crime films Films directed by Arthur Maude Films based on British novels Films based on works by Edgar Wallace British crime films Films shot at Beaconsfield Studios Transitional sound films British black-and-white films 1920s English-language films 1920s British films {{1920s-UK-film-stub