Colin Tapley
Encyclopedia
Colin Tapley was a British
actor. Born in New Zealand
, he served in the Royal Air Force
and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictures
talent contest and moving to Hollywood. He acted in several films before returning to Britain during the Second World War as a flight controller with the Royal Canadian Air Force
. He returned briefly to New Zealand
before returning once again to Britain to renew his acting career. His most famous role is as William Glanville
in The Dam Busters
but he spent much of his later career typecast
as a police inspector, a role he played in several films and TV series before retiring to Gloucestershire
.
, New Zealand
. He took part in the first of Richard Byrd's
expeditions to Antarctica before moving to the United Kingdom
and joining the Royal Air Force
.
and was selected as one of thirty winners and one of only two from New Zealand.
. He was rewarded with a contract with Paramount
as a bit part
actor, was credited in If I Were King
(1938) and appeared uncredited in several other films. Tapley had the debonair good looks, voice and talent of a star, but he found his niche in playing character roles, and appeared in American and British films for more than 30 years without any real desire for movie stardom. Colins desire for character parts came early in his Hollywood career. He wrote home enthusiastically to one of his brothers about his small part in The Scarlet Empress
(1934), describing the long black beard and wonderful uniform that transformed him into the captain of the queen's bodyguard. Although his performance went uncredited, Tapley is seen directing the firing of the guns from the palace battlements, and yelling, "It's a boy!" to the excited crowd after the future empress played by Marlene Dietrich
gives birth to a son". He continued to work in some of the biggest movies of the 1930s, starring the likes of Cary Grant
, Loretta Young
, Sir Richard Redgrave and Gary Cooper
. "The most wonderful experience of my life," is how he later recalled those years "I adored every bit of it."
During this time he shared a flat with Donald Gray
and they would remain close friends until Gray's death in 1978. His best friend in Hollywood was Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray
, who with his first wife, Lillian Lamont visited Colin in New Zealand and England with his second wife, when Colin had moved back to be with his own wife and children. MacMurray and Tapley remained great friends up until MacMurray's death in 1991. Colin was a keen horseman and an avid polo player; playing at the Riveria Polo Club, and on his ranch in the San Fernando Valley where his friends and neighbours would spend time, one of whom being Ginger Rogers
. He recalled later, 'popping over to her place for tennis and what not', before the war broke out whereupon he left Hollywood and returned to England.
due to war restrictions and so enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force
. He found employment as a flight instructor due to his past experience in the Royal Air Force
and was later transferred to Britain as a flight controller. During his service he was forced to parachute from a crashing aircraft and so was awarded membership of the Caterpillar Club
.
rental service in Wanaka
, South Island
and to set up home there with his Patsy, but soon tired of this and returned to Hollywood to re-establish his film career. Legendary American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer Cecil B. DeMille
personally gave him a role in his new film, Samson and Dalia, which Colin accepted. But Colin and Patsy found that Hollywood had changed for the worse and after finishing Samson and Dalia, they headed back to England. Due to Colin's upper class accent he found no trouble finding work in the film industry; it was also the boom period of British war film
s in the '50s and '60s and he landed the role of a lifetime, the revered war epic The Dam Busters
film of 1955 where along side Michael Redgrave
he played William Glanville
who helped to develop the famous bouncing bomb. From 1954 to 1958, he appeared as a police inspector named Parker, working with his good friend Donald Gray
, in the detective
television series The Vise
(later known as Saber of London
). He was subsequently typecast
and would play a police officer in many of his later films. His acting career ended in 1983, at the age of 74, and he retired to Coates
, Gloucestershire
.
banking dynasty. Despite being from one of England's most prestigious aristocratic-banking families, with close family ties to the Royal family
, Patsy encouraged that they marry quietly being as it was very much war time in England and London lay in ruin as an aftermath of "the Blitz
". And so they did with her parents, twin brother, Everard Hambro and other family members present at St Martin-in-the-Fields
in August 1943. Colin and Patsy lived in New Zealand
and Hollywood before settling down in Coates
, Gloucestershire
remaining there until his death in December 1995, aged 88. He was survived by son Nigel Tapley, stepdaughter, Charlotte Ann Lyon wife of the late shipping mogul Sir Kerry St. Johnston. Colin was buried in his old city of Dunedin
, New Zealand
next to his first son Martin, who had died at the age of 3 of leukemia in 1947. Patsy remained at their house in Coates
, Gloucestershire
until her death in January, 2000.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor. Born in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, he served in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
talent contest and moving to Hollywood. He acted in several films before returning to Britain during the Second World War as a flight controller with the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
. He returned briefly to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
before returning once again to Britain to renew his acting career. His most famous role is as William Glanville
William Glanville
Sir William Henry Glanville CB CBE was a British civil engineer. During WWII he and the Road Research Laboratory were involved in important war work, developing temporary runways, beach analysis, and tank and aircraft design...
in The Dam Busters
The Dam Busters (film)
The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
but he spent much of his later career typecast
Typecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
as a police inspector, a role he played in several films and TV series before retiring to Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
Early life
Tapley was born on 7 May 1907 at DunedinDunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He took part in the first of Richard Byrd's
Richard Evelyn Byrd
Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN was a naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics...
expeditions to Antarctica before moving to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and joining the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
.
Paramount Pictures & life in Hollywood
In 1933 he entered a talent contest organised by Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and was selected as one of thirty winners and one of only two from New Zealand.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
as a bit part
Bit part
A bit part is a supporting acting role with at least one line of dialogue . In British television, bit parts are referred to as under sixes...
actor, was credited in If I Were King
If I Were King
If I Were King is a 1938 American biographical historical drama film starring Ronald Colman as medieval poet François Villon, and featuring Basil Rathbone and Frances Dee...
(1938) and appeared uncredited in several other films. Tapley had the debonair good looks, voice and talent of a star, but he found his niche in playing character roles, and appeared in American and British films for more than 30 years without any real desire for movie stardom. Colins desire for character parts came early in his Hollywood career. He wrote home enthusiastically to one of his brothers about his small part in The Scarlet Empress
The Scarlet Empress
The Scarlet Empress is a 1934 historical drama film made by Paramount Pictures about the life of Catherine the Great. It was directed and produced by Josef von Sternberg from a screenplay by Eleanor McGeary, loosely based on the diary of Catherine arranged by Manuel Komroff...
(1934), describing the long black beard and wonderful uniform that transformed him into the captain of the queen's bodyguard. Although his performance went uncredited, Tapley is seen directing the firing of the guns from the palace battlements, and yelling, "It's a boy!" to the excited crowd after the future empress played by Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
gives birth to a son". He continued to work in some of the biggest movies of the 1930s, starring the likes of Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
, Sir Richard Redgrave and Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
. "The most wonderful experience of my life," is how he later recalled those years "I adored every bit of it."
During this time he shared a flat with Donald Gray
Donald Gray
Donald Gray was a South African actor, probably best remembered for providing the voices to Colonel White, Captain Black and the Mysterons in the TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and for being the reason that Donald Marshall Gray changed his name to Charles Gray when he became an actor...
and they would remain close friends until Gray's death in 1978. His best friend in Hollywood was Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, who with his first wife, Lillian Lamont visited Colin in New Zealand and England with his second wife, when Colin had moved back to be with his own wife and children. MacMurray and Tapley remained great friends up until MacMurray's death in 1991. Colin was a keen horseman and an avid polo player; playing at the Riveria Polo Club, and on his ranch in the San Fernando Valley where his friends and neighbours would spend time, one of whom being Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
. He recalled later, 'popping over to her place for tennis and what not', before the war broke out whereupon he left Hollywood and returned to England.
World War II & RAF career
In 1940 Tapley returned to Britain and to help the war effort but found that he could not find transport direct from the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
due to war restrictions and so enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
. He found employment as a flight instructor due to his past experience in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and was later transferred to Britain as a flight controller. During his service he was forced to parachute from a crashing aircraft and so was awarded membership of the Caterpillar Club
Caterpillar Club
The Caterpillar Club is an informal association of people who have successfully used a parachute to bail out of a disabled aircraft. After authentication by the parachute maker, applicants receive a membership certificate and a distinctive lapel pin...
.
Post World War II film career
After demobilisation in 1945 Colin along with his new wife, returned to his native New Zealand for the first time since 1933. He intended to establish a launchLaunch (boat)
A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...
rental service in Wanaka
Wanaka
Wanaka is a town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, adjacent to the outflow of the lake to the Clutha River. It is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is primarily a resort town but has both summer and winter...
, South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
and to set up home there with his Patsy, but soon tired of this and returned to Hollywood to re-establish his film career. Legendary American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
personally gave him a role in his new film, Samson and Dalia, which Colin accepted. But Colin and Patsy found that Hollywood had changed for the worse and after finishing Samson and Dalia, they headed back to England. Due to Colin's upper class accent he found no trouble finding work in the film industry; it was also the boom period of British war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
s in the '50s and '60s and he landed the role of a lifetime, the revered war epic The Dam Busters
The Dam Busters (film)
The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
film of 1955 where along side Michael Redgrave
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...
he played William Glanville
William Glanville
Sir William Henry Glanville CB CBE was a British civil engineer. During WWII he and the Road Research Laboratory were involved in important war work, developing temporary runways, beach analysis, and tank and aircraft design...
who helped to develop the famous bouncing bomb. From 1954 to 1958, he appeared as a police inspector named Parker, working with his good friend Donald Gray
Donald Gray
Donald Gray was a South African actor, probably best remembered for providing the voices to Colonel White, Captain Black and the Mysterons in the TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and for being the reason that Donald Marshall Gray changed his name to Charles Gray when he became an actor...
, in the detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
television series The Vise
The Vise
The Vise is a half-hour dramatic anthology television series which aired at 9:30 p.m. EST on Fridays on ABC from December 1955 to June 1957....
(later known as Saber of London
Saber of London
Saber of London is a half-hour 1950s detective television series about a British police captain named Mark Saber, who works, in the original version of the program, in the homicide department of a large American city. Tom Conway portrayed Mark Saber from October 1951 to June 1954...
). He was subsequently typecast
Typecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
and would play a police officer in many of his later films. His acting career ended in 1983, at the age of 74, and he retired to Coates
Coates, Gloucestershire
Coates is a village situated in Gloucestershire, England. It is around 5 km or 3 miles west of Cirencester and close to Cirencester Park, part of the Bathurst Estate. It is the nearest village to the source of the river Thames at Thames Head, and it is close to the course of the Foss Way or Fosse...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
Personal life and death
During his time in England while in the RAF, Tapley met Patricia "Patsy" Lyon, the widowed daughter of Major-General Sir Percival and Lady Hambro of the HambroHambros Bank
Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years...
banking dynasty. Despite being from one of England's most prestigious aristocratic-banking families, with close family ties to the Royal family
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
, Patsy encouraged that they marry quietly being as it was very much war time in England and London lay in ruin as an aftermath of "the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
". And so they did with her parents, twin brother, Everard Hambro and other family members present at St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...
in August 1943. Colin and Patsy lived in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Hollywood before settling down in Coates
Coates, Gloucestershire
Coates is a village situated in Gloucestershire, England. It is around 5 km or 3 miles west of Cirencester and close to Cirencester Park, part of the Bathurst Estate. It is the nearest village to the source of the river Thames at Thames Head, and it is close to the course of the Foss Way or Fosse...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
remaining there until his death in December 1995, aged 88. He was survived by son Nigel Tapley, stepdaughter, Charlotte Ann Lyon wife of the late shipping mogul Sir Kerry St. Johnston. Colin was buried in his old city of Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
next to his first son Martin, who had died at the age of 3 of leukemia in 1947. Patsy remained at their house in Coates
Coates, Gloucestershire
Coates is a village situated in Gloucestershire, England. It is around 5 km or 3 miles west of Cirencester and close to Cirencester Park, part of the Bathurst Estate. It is the nearest village to the source of the river Thames at Thames Head, and it is close to the course of the Foss Way or Fosse...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
until her death in January, 2000.
Selected films
- Wagon WheelsWagon Wheels (1934 film)Wagon Wheels is a 1934 remake of 1931's Fighting Caravans, using stock footage from the original and substituting a new cast headed by Randolph Scott and Gail Patrick to replace the earlier film's Gary Cooper and Lili Damita. The western movie was directed by Charles Barton from the Zane Grey novel...
(1934) - Mountaineer - The Scarlett Empress (1934) - General (uncredited)
- Becky SharpBecky Sharp (film)Becky Sharp is a 1935 film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Miriam Hopkins. Other supporting cast were Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Nigel Bruce, and Alan Mowbray. It is based on the play of the same name by Langdon Mitchell, which in turn is based on...
(1935) - Captain William Dobbin - The Black RoomThe Black Room (1935 film)The Black Room is a 1935 mystery-horror film, directed by Roy William Neill. The movie stars Boris Karloff in a dual role as twin brothers. The film also starred Marian Marsh and Robert Allen...
(1935) - Paul Hassel as a young lieutenant - The Lives of a Bengal LancerThe Lives of a Bengal LancerThe Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a 1935 American adventure film loosely adapted from the 1930 book of the same name by Francis Yeats-Brown. The plot of the movie, which bears little resemblance to Yeats-Brown's memoir, concerns British soldiers defending the borders of India against rebellious...
(1935) - Lieutenant Barrett - Maid of SalemMaid of SalemMaid of Salem is a 1937 film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Frank Lloyd, and starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.-Plot:It tells the story of a young girl in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692, who has an affair with adventurer...
(1937) - Roger's friend - If I Were KingIf I Were KingIf I Were King is a 1938 American biographical historical drama film starring Ronald Colman as medieval poet François Villon, and featuring Basil Rathbone and Frances Dee...
(1938) - Jehan Le Loup - Booloo (1938) - Captain Robert Rogers (director: Clyde E. ElliottClyde E. Elliott-Filmography:* Jacare * Booloo * The Devil Tiger * Bring 'Em Back Alive * Western Ways * A Winter's Tale * The City * Le voyageur * A Bit Old Fashioned * My Barefoot Boy...
) - ArizonaArizona (1940 film)Arizona is a 1940 American Western film starring Jean Arthur, William Holden and Warren William. It was directed by Wesley Ruggles.Victor Young was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score, while Lionel Banks and Robert Peterson were considered for the Academy Award for Best Art...
(1940) - Bart Massey - Samson and DelilahSamson and Delilah (1949 film)Samson and Delilah is a 1949 film made by Paramount Pictures , produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as the title characters...
(1949) - Prince - CloudburstCloudburst (film)Cloudburst is a 1951 British drama film, directed by Francis Searle, starring Robert Preston and featuring Elizabeth Sellars, Harold Lang, Colin Tapley and Sheila Burrell. The script is based on a play written by Leo Marks, a wartime cryptographer for the Special Operations Executive, and later...
(1951) - Inspector Davis - Angels One FiveAngels One FiveAngels One Five is a 1952 British film directed by George More O'Ferrall, and starring Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson, Cyril Raymond, Veronica Hurst and also featuring Bill Everett. Based on the book 'What Are Your Angels Now?' by Pelham Groom Angels One Five is a 1952...
(1952) - Adjutant - The Steel KeyThe Steel KeyThe Steel Key is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Terence Morgan, Joan Rice and Raymond Lovell.-Cast:* Terence Morgan - Johnny O'Flynn* Joan Rice - Doreen Wilson* Raymond Lovell - Inspector Forsythe...
(1953) - The Dam BustersThe Dam Busters (film)The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
(1955) - William GlanvilleWilliam GlanvilleSir William Henry Glanville CB CBE was a British civil engineer. During WWII he and the Road Research Laboratory were involved in important war work, developing temporary runways, beach analysis, and tank and aircraft design... - The SafecrackerThe SafecrackerThe Safecracker is a 1958 British crime film directed by Ray Milland and starring Ray Milland, Barry Jones and Victor Maddern.-Cast:* Ray Milland as Colley Dawson* Barry Jones as Bennett Carfield* Jeanette Sterke as Irene* Victor Maddern as Morris...
(1958) - Colonel Charles Mercer - Blood of the VampireBlood of the Vampire-Plot:A young couple are terrorized by Dr. Callistratus who was executed but has returned to life with a heart transplant...
(1958) - Commissioner of Prisons - Innocent MeetingInnocent MeetingInnocent Meeting is a 1958 British crime film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Sean Lynch, Beth Rogan and Raymond Huntley. After meeting her in a record shop, a young tearaway bonds with the daughter of middle-class parents...
(1958) - So Evil, So YoungSo Evil, So Young (film)So Evil, So Young is a 1961 film starring Jill Ireland and Ellen Pollock.-Synopsis:Lucy and Claire are at a house where Lucy used to work. The two of them hack into the safe behind a picture. Inside are several jewels...
(1961) - Inspector - Emergency (1962) - Dr. Lloyd
- StrongroomStrongroom (film)Strongroom is a 1962 British crime drama film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt, Colin Gordon and Ann Lynn. During a bank robbery the bank manager and cashier are locked in a safe, but the criminals are forced to return to the bank to release them before the police...
(1962) - Haynes - ParanoiacParanoiac (1963 film)Paranoiac is a 1963 suspense film from Hammer Films directed by Freddie Francis and starring Janette Scott, Oliver Reed, Sheila Burrell, and Alexander Davion...
(1963) - Vicar