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{{Short description|1954 British film by Charles Saunders}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Scarlet Web
| image =File:The Scarlet Web.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Charles Saunders (director)|Charles Saunders]]
| producer = [[Frank Bevis]]
| writer = [[Doreen Montgomery]]
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|[[Griffith Jones (actor)|Griffith Jones]]|[[Hazel Court]]|[[Zena Marshall]]}}
| music =
| cinematography = [[Hone Glendinning]]
| editing = [[Jack Slade (editor)|Jack Slade]]
| studio = Fortress Film Productions
| distributor = [[Eros Films]]
| released = {{Film date|1954|06|}}
| runtime = 63 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''The Scarlet Web''''' is a 1954 British [[B movie|second feature]]<ref name="Chibnall">{{Cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=''The British 'B' Film'' |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=[[BFI]]/[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=128}}</ref> [[crime film]] directed by [[Charles Saunders (director)|Charles Saunders]] and starring [[Griffith Jones (actor)|Griffith Jones]], [[Hazel Court]] and [[Zena Marshall]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Scarlet Web |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150054689 |access-date=16 November 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It was written by [[Doreen Montgomery]].

==Plot==
{{more plot|date=November 2023}}
Jake Winter, just released from prison, is approached by a blonde who asks him to steal a letter from a blackmailer who has targeted her husband.

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[Griffith Jones (actor)|Griffith Jones]] as Jake Winter
* [[Hazel Court]] as Susan Honeywell
* [[Zena Marshall]] as Laura Vane
* [[Robert Percival]] as Charles Dexter
* [[Molly Raynor]] as Miss Riggs
* [[Ronnie Stevens (actor)|Ronnie Stevens]] as Simpson
* [[John Fitzgerald (actor)|John Fitzgerald]] as Bert
* [[Stuart Douglass]] as Cyril
* [[Michael Balfour (actor)|Michael Balfour]] as barman
* David Stoll as Alphonse, the hairdresser

}}

== Production ==
The film was made at [[Walton Studios]] with some [[location shooting]] in [[London]]. Its sets were designed by the [[art director]] [[John Stoll]].

== Critical reception ==
''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' said "Formula detective story, made with modest competence. The basic fact that the police will believe Winter murdered an unknown woman for £50 seems improbable; this apart, however, the story is credible and no loose ends are left."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1954 |title=The Scarlet Web |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305818855/460488747B884C5DPQ/1 |journal=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=21 |issue=240 |pages=106 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

''[[Kine Weekly]]'' wrote "Compact, disarmingly inconsequential romantic comedy crime melodrama.&nbsp;... The picture never takes itself too seriously, and its strong sense of humour, cultivated by Hazel Court and Griffith Jones, who make an engaging team as Susan and Jake, effectively cloaks its incredibilities without robbing it of penultimate suspense."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=20 May 1954 |title=The Scarlet Web |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2732607944/9FA38D50FD534E84PQ/1 |journal=[[Kine Weekly]] |volume=446 |issue=2447 |pages=21 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' [[David Quinlan (film critic)|David Quinlan]] rated the film as "average", writing: "Very familiar story but more professionally put together than most of its kind."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=[[Batsford Books|B.T. Batsford Ltd.]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=369}}</ref>

Chibnall and McFarlane in ''The British 'B' Film'' wrote: "Leavened with touches of wry, wise-cracking humour, nothing in the film would have been out of place in a hardboiled flick from America except the English accents and the backgrounds."<ref name="Chibnall" />

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0163195}}

{{Films by Charles Saunders|state=collapsed}}
{{Portalbar|1950s|Film|London}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarlet Web, The}}
[[Category:1954 films]]
[[Category:British crime films]]
[[Category:1954 crime films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Charles Saunders]]
[[Category:Films shot at Nettlefold Studios]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s British films]]
[[Category:English-language crime films]]


{{1950s-UK-film-stub}}

Latest revision as of 16:08, 22 September 2024

The Scarlet Web
Directed byCharles Saunders
Written byDoreen Montgomery
Produced byFrank Bevis
Starring
CinematographyHone Glendinning
Edited byJack Slade
Production
company
Fortress Film Productions
Distributed byEros Films
Release date
  • June 1954 (1954-06)
Running time
63 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Scarlet Web is a 1954 British second feature[1] crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Hazel Court and Zena Marshall.[2] It was written by Doreen Montgomery.

Plot

[edit]

Jake Winter, just released from prison, is approached by a blonde who asks him to steal a letter from a blackmailer who has targeted her husband.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

The film was made at Walton Studios with some location shooting in London. Its sets were designed by the art director John Stoll.

Critical reception

[edit]

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Formula detective story, made with modest competence. The basic fact that the police will believe Winter murdered an unknown woman for £50 seems improbable; this apart, however, the story is credible and no loose ends are left."[3]

Kine Weekly wrote "Compact, disarmingly inconsequential romantic comedy crime melodrama. ... The picture never takes itself too seriously, and its strong sense of humour, cultivated by Hazel Court and Griffith Jones, who make an engaging team as Susan and Jake, effectively cloaks its incredibilities without robbing it of penultimate suspense."[4]

British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Very familiar story but more professionally put together than most of its kind."[5]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote: "Leavened with touches of wry, wise-cracking humour, nothing in the film would have been out of place in a hardboiled flick from America except the English accents and the backgrounds."[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ^ "The Scarlet Web". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  3. ^ "The Scarlet Web". Monthly Film Bulletin. 21 (240): 106. 1954 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ "The Scarlet Web". Kine Weekly. 446 (2447): 21. 20 May 1954 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 369. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
[edit]


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