Mantrap

Mantrap (1953)

Scotland Yard warns private eye to reveal the whereabouts of the Man in Hiding.

Branded as criminally insane and incarcerated for a murder he did not commit, Speight escapes from the asylum, determined to clear his name. He befriends private detective Hugo Bishop who, convinced that the wrong man has been convicted, agrees to help find the real killer. They begin their search for the murderer closest to home where both Thelma Speight and her employer Maurice Jerrard were visibly distressed by the news of her husband's jailbreak. More than Speight's 'insanity' fuels their worries.

Date of release
1953-03-10
TMDB
5.6 / 10 (7)
Runtime
1h 13m
Genres
Thriller, Crime
Director
Terence Fisher

Casting

Interesting facts

Mantrap is a 1953 British second feature crime drama directed by Terence Fisher, starring Paul Henreid and Lois Maxwell. It was written by Paul Tabori and Terence Fisher, based on a 1952 novel Queen in Danger by Trevor Dudley-Smith. Camera operator Len Harris started working for Hammer beginning with this film, and later became a major contributor to the legacy of Hammer Films. Hammer was considering following this film up with a few sequels featuring the further adventures of private eye Hugo Bishop, but nothing came of it as actor Paul Henreid was on the fringe of the Hollywood "blacklist" at the time and his career was headed downward.

Production

The film was made by Hammer Films and shot at the Bray Studios and on location in London, mostly near St Paul's Cathedral.

Paul Henreid previously starred in Stolen Face (1952), also directed by Fisher, for similarly low salary and royalties. He was being somewhat blacklisted in Hollywood at the time, and his career was heading downward.

Camera operator Len Harris started working for Hammer beginning with this film, and later became a major contributor to the legacy of Hammer Films.

Production began on June 16, 1952 and the film was trade shown on March 1, 1953, and released on March 16th.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended