#peter haddon

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A scene from the movie "The Beloved Vagabond", released in 1936. Actors (from left to right): Betty Stockfeld, Peter Haddon,Maurice Chevalier.

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Movie number 65: The Silent Passenger (Reginald Denham, 1935).

Dorothy L Sayers’ amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey makes his big screen debut in this original story, written by Sayers with screenwriter Basil Mason.

When a man in wrongly accused of murdering his philandering wife’s lover Lord Peter Wimsey steps in to prove his innocence. The action largely takes place on board train from London to Dover and benefits from location shot on actual stations.

Made three years before another great train bound mystery, The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938), The Silent Passenger pales in comparison to the later movie. Yet this slightly creaky thriller actually surpasses its obvious ‘B’ movie origins and really isn’t bad at all. Admittedly, it’s not much of a mystery as the audience know the identity of the murderer from the outset. But its climactic chase through a locomotive repair shop and into the pathway of an oncoming train is genuinely exciting. Peter Haddon hams it up nicely as Wimsey and it has its share of humorous moments as well as minor thrills. It is no classic by any means, but does have an old fashioned charm nonetheless.

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Movie number 48: The House of the Spaniard (Reginald Denham, 1936).

Based upon Arthur Behrend’s novel The House of the Spaniard is a hopelessly dated comedy thriller set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. Peter Haddon hams it up as hapless David Grey, accidental witness to some dodgy goings on on Liverpool marshland who then gets mixed up in some nonsense about Spanish revolutionists. The confusing plot is peppered with coincidences and contrivances and for much of the movie I was in the dark as to what was happening as the narrative jumped from one incredulous event to another.

The Marlene Dietrich-esq Brigette Horney is appealing as Margarita, Mr Grey’s love interest and the daughter of his employer and eventual kidnapper Pedro de Guzman (Allen Jeayes) and the movie is not wholly unentertaining; some enjoyment is to be found its frankly ludicrous situations and eventual denouncement. But to be honest the film has little else going for it.

Told in a jolly, lighthearted manner unbefitting of it somber real-life backdrop of civil unrest, The House of the Spaniard is a largely missable b-movie that leaves a slightly bad taste. Those with an interest in pre-war British cinema, or with a peculiar fetish for bad movies, may find it worth a watch.