The House Of Blackmail [DVD]

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The 'Six Men' are a gang of six criminals that Scotland Yard is unable to pin a charge against even though they are positive of the identities. The other film is really a rough print with opening casts incomplete but I suspect adding it as a bonus was the only way it would get a DVD release.

THE HOUSE OF BLACKMAIL (1953), starring William Sylvester, a likeable American actor with an elegant and throwaway style that's ideal for this Agatha Christie-like who-dunnit, about a group of people holed up in a country manor, each suspecting the others of murdering a blackmailer. If you have any information regarding this production, the locations or, even better, some comparison shots please contact us. A young man asks his sister Carol (Mary Germaine) to go to a blackmailer’s (Alexander Gauge) house and pay him off and reclaim any evidence. The plot grows increasingly strained as it strives to keep us guessing just who amongst a number of shady characters has knocked off the blackmailer, and eventually falls across the line. We are aware that there are films on the site that were added when the criteria for the inclusion of locations was very different from today and, as a result, there may be scenes missing from some productions.

It's a tongue-in-cheek affair, which we thought worked well, except for a Bugsy Malone style performance from American Reed DeRouen. It’s about the characters’ interaction – not wanting to be alone or with any of the others either – and also keeps us guessing as to whether Jimmy is the escaped prisoner or not. House of Blackmail is a 1953 British second feature [1] drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Mary Germaine, William Sylvester and Alexander Gauge.

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. THE SIX MEN (1951) - an old fashioned curiosity but we enjoyed the acting from Harold Warrender as the Scotland yard inspector and Michael Evans as his sidekick. The print is reasonable, despite some scratching and the occasional bleaching that seems to be a feature of Renown releases.The Swedish Film Institute has a duty to support production, distribution and screening of valuable film, to preserve and make accessible the Swedish film heritage and to represent Swedish film abroad. Not so action packed as some gangster movies, some shooting and killing but not gory or blood thirsty, just good old fashion movie. As usual, Alexander Gauge is wonderfully erudite as the disreputable Markham, another of his reasonable-criminal roles, while the British actor John Arnatt displays a convincing American accent as the man who takes charge.

Unusually, the lead female role - played here by Mary Germaine - has a much more substantial role in this mystery as they attempt to identify the murderer. William Sylvester plays the hitcher-cum-sleuth well and Denis Shaw is good as they nosey butler in this short-but-sweet double-crossing pot-boiler that do. She insists on meeting the blackmailer so travels to his remote country house; en route picking up a curious hitcher. An army officer (William Sylvester) aids a girl (Mary Germaine) trying to extricate her brother from a blackmailer's clutches.

Upper Court, Portsmouth Road, Esher in Surrey which also appears in 'Man at the Carlton Tower', 'Game for Three Losers', 'A Place of One's Own' and 'Hell is Sold Out'. There is also some decent characterisation – for example, with Bassett the butler and his listening at keyholes and room of pin-ups – and much creepy sneaking about, which I always love. From the theme music I was expecting a comedy but it turned into an above average thriller I thought the 2 leads bounced off each other well and mary germaine held her own as genuine costar but the other men in the house were poorly written. When Carol gives Markham a cheque, he demands that Carol and Jim remain at the house until the cheque clears. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

The investigation reveals numerous possible suspects leading the couple to try and find the real killer themselves. Four stars for this one, although I found it cosy rather than scarey, right down to the music - pure 1950s BBC Home Service! Actors: Mary Germaine, William Sylvester, Alexander Gauge, John Arnatt, Denis Shaw, Ingeborg von Kusserow, Patricia Owens, C. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. In a remote mansion Army Officer (William Sylvester) and Carol (Mary Germaine) only escape the charge of murder by finding the real killer.The story follows a soldier, Jimmy (Sylvester), and his girlfriend Carol (Mary Germaine) who are implicated in the murder of blackmailer Markham (Alexander Gauge) at his isolated mansion. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. This is quite an entertaining little film, falling squarely into the Mystery/whodunit genre and not really veering anywhere towards noir or even thriller. Of the cast, only Ingeborg Wells and Denis Shaw show any spirit, and direction is not particularly in evidence. Jimmy agrees to accompany Carol to the house and pose as her lawyer in an attempt to unnerve Markham.