Directed by Robert Hamer. Written by Roy Horniman, Robert Hamer and John Dighton.

Louis Mazzini

• [Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne has been killed while sailing a hot-air balloon over London.]
  I shot an arrow in the air; she fell to earth in Berkeley Square.

• While I never admired Edith as much as when I was with Sibella, I never longed for Sibella as much as when I was with Edith.

• The Reverend Lord Henry was not one of those newfangled parsons who carry the principles of their vocation uncomfortably into private life.

• It is so difficult to make a neat job of killing people with whom one is not on friendly terms.

The Parson

• The Parson: I always say that my west window has all the exuberance of Chaucer without, happily, any of the concomitant crudities of his period.

Dialogue

Mr Elliot: Even my lamented master, the great Mr. Benny himself, never had the privilege of hanging a duke. What a finale to a lifetime in the public service!

Prison Governor: Finale?

Mr Elliot: Yes, I intend to retire. After using the silken rope, never again be content with hemp.

Sibella Holland: Oh, Louis! I don't want to marry Lionel!

Louis: Why not?

Sibella: He's so dull.

Louis: I must admit he exhibits the most extraordinary capacity for middle age that I've ever encountered in a young man of twenty-four.

Sibella: He says he wants to go to Europe to expand his mind.

Louis: He certainly has room to do so.

Cast

• Dennis Price — Louis Mazzini
• Alec Guinness — The Duke/The Parson
• Joan Greenwood — Sibella Holland
• Miles Malleson — Mr Elliot The Hangman