The Terror (1938 film)

The Terror

Company type	Film
Industry	Film industry
Founded	1938
Founder	Richard Bird (director)
Products	Crime film

The Terror is a 1938 British crime film helmed by director Richard Bird, featuring performances from Wilfrid Lawson, Linden Travers, and Bernard Lee. This film is an adaptation of the 1927 stage play The Terror written by Edgar Wallace, which itself draws from Wallace's 1926 novel The Black Abbot. An earlier cinematic version of the play was produced in the United States in 1928 under the same title.

Plot

After a bold robbery of an armoured vehicle, members of a criminal group are betrayed by their leader. Following a decade-long imprisonment, the betrayed seek vengeance while law enforcement agencies simultaneously hunt down the heist's orchestrator.

Production

The movie was shot at Elstree Studios, with art direction and set design led by Cedric Dawe.

Cast

• Wilfrid Lawson portraying Mr. Goodman
• Bernard Lee as Ferdy Fane
• Arthur Wontner in the role of Colonel Redmayne
• Linden Travers as Mary Redmayne
• Henry Oscar playing Joe Connor
• Iris Hoey as Mrs. Elvery
• Stanley Lathbury taking on Hawkins, the butler
• Lesley Wareing as Veronica Elvery
• Alastair Sim portraying "Soapy" Marx
• John Turnbull in the role of Superintendent Hallick
• Richard Murdoch as Detective Lewis
• Edward Lexy playing Inspector Dobie
• Kathleen Harrison as Gladys, the maid
• Irene Handl portraying the kitchen maid

Critical reception

According to Kinematograph Weekly, the film achieved strong box office results in Britain during October 1938.

The Monthly Film Bulletin commended it as "a first class film of its type," highlighting its "excellent craftsmanship, superb cutting, high-quality acting, and dialogue above the general standard," and regarded it as a highly entertaining production.

Leslie Halliwell characterized it as a "stilted remake of [The Terror (1928)]."

In his book British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959, critic David Quinlan awarded it a "good" rating, noting that while it lacks subtlety, it delivers considerable suspense.