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The Man in Black

  • 1950
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
354
YOUR RATING
The Man in Black (1950)
Thriller

A yogi seemingly dies while simulating death and his evil second wife, and her daughter, try to force his daughter into insanity for control of his estate.A yogi seemingly dies while simulating death and his evil second wife, and her daughter, try to force his daughter into insanity for control of his estate.A yogi seemingly dies while simulating death and his evil second wife, and her daughter, try to force his daughter into insanity for control of his estate.

  • Director
    • Francis Searle
  • Writers
    • John Dickson Carr
    • John Gilling
    • Francis Searle
  • Stars
    • Betty Ann Davies
    • Sheila Burrell
    • Sidney James
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    354
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Francis Searle
    • Writers
      • John Dickson Carr
      • John Gilling
      • Francis Searle
    • Stars
      • Betty Ann Davies
      • Sheila Burrell
      • Sidney James
    • 15User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos30

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    Top cast11

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    Betty Ann Davies
    Betty Ann Davies
    • Bertha Clavering
    Sheila Burrell
    Sheila Burrell
    • Janice
    Sidney James
    Sidney James
    • Henry Clavering…
    Anthony Forwood
    Anthony Forwood
    • Victor Harrington
    Hazel Penwarden
    • Joan Clavering
    Valentine Dyall
    Valentine Dyall
    • The Man in Black - Story-Teller
    Courtney Hope
    • Mrs. Carter
    Mollie Palmer
    • Elsie
    Laurence Baskcomb
    • Sandford
    Gerald Case
    • Doctor
    David Keir
    • Removal Man
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Francis Searle
    • Writers
      • John Dickson Carr
      • John Gilling
      • Francis Searle
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews15

    5.9354
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    Featured reviews

    7hitchcockthelegend

    Oakfield Towers ... The Scene...

    The Man in Black is directed by Francis Searle and Searle co-writes the play with John Gilling. It stars Betty Ann Davies, Sheila Burell, Sid James, Anthony Forwood and Mollie Palmer. Music is by Frank Spencer and Rupert Grayson and cinematography by Cedric Williams.

    Out of Hammer Films, this adaptation from a radio series is a tight little "Gaslight" suspenser. Story basically entails a young lady recently bequeathed her father's inheritance, who is at the mercy of scheming family members intent on ensuring she doesn't get what's rightfully hers.

    The core of the plot is quickly revealed to us, so there is no pretention as to this being a supernatural dark house spooker - which is on the cards given the splendid shadowy and creaky setting of the Oakfield Towers mansion.

    Story moves through a number of pleasant surprises, murder and intrigue prominent, motives straight and sketchy depending on certain characters' involvements, and thankfully the final run in has some weighty surprise value as well.

    It's all very correct in dialogue and a little camp in places, but it's clever in its telling and nicely performed by the cast. 6.5/10
    7adaptor

    Surprisingly engaging

    Great old-school psychological thriller. The story has some nice twists and turns, as well as some plot elements that are familiar, even for the time. It's a fun watch and the three leading ladies carry the show.
    5Tera-Jones

    A Thriller NOT A Horror Movie

    Although on IMDb this is tagged as a horror movie as well as a thriller - it is not a horror film. It's a thriller, very film noir(ish). The seance might be the only real impression this a horror film. Sure there is a man speaking in a "spooky voice" in the beginning of it, a man simulating his own death through yoga, a woman seemingly going insane, ugly step-mom and step-sister trying to drive her mad but the film is a thriller... maybe with some over/under tones of horror.

    I will have to agree this movie is similar to Gaslight (1944) It's sorta a rehash of it but with the mystery removed. Gaslight the better film but this one isn't all that bad.

    This film helped Hammer to pave it's way into the horror genre and is worth a watch but not a film to go out of your way to find.

    5/10
    6henry8-3

    The Man in Black

    Based on the extremely popular BBC radio series from the thirties and forties, The Man in Black played by famously spooky voiced Valentine Dyall introduces the story. Yogi follower Sid James dies in his country pile leaving his fortune to his daughter. His wife looks for ways of disinheriting her through having her committed or worse.

    Whilst you can quite easily see roughly what is going on here right from the start and it is all a bit twin set and pearls, there is much to enjoy here and a number of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It's an early Hammer film and its radio origins do rather betray it, but it makes for a pleasant hour and a half and nice to Sid James in a straight role for once.
    7clanciai

    A poor heiress exposed at the mercy of a beautiful stepmother and her vicious daughter

    This is a chamber drama of a family, as a rich dying father leaves everything to his only daughter, who is beset by her stepmother and her daughter (who then isn't even her half-sister), who of course are interested in the inheritance, as the father only leaves them morsels. The intrigue is how they will go about it, and their method is very similar to that of "Gaslight". There is an old servant of the manor, usuallly drunk, however, whom they don't bother to count with, which is their mistake. They don't get any help either from the opportunist wooer, who thinks it will be easy to marry the heiress for her money, even though he accidentally succeeds in killing the old drunk. The whole thing gets increasingly messed up, and the greedy ladies gradually lose control of what is happening. But it is a very intelligent intrigue, all the absurd turnings of the tale are quite logical when you analyse them, but it could have been made a so much better film. As it is, it is too much condensed, which makes it superficial. A man like Hitchcock would have been needed to film a drama like this, he wouldn't have missed the opportunity for suspense and surprise, but taken better care of the vital crucial moments.

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    Related interests

    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

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    • Trivia
      Hazel Penwarden receives an "introducing" credit.

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 1950 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Oakley Court, Windsor Road, Oakley Green, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Hammer Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 20m(80 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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