Warn That Man

Warn That Man

Company type	Film
Industry	Film industry
Founded	1943
Key people	Lawrence Huntington (director), Gordon Harker (actor), Raymond Lovell (actor), Finlay Currie (actor), Vernon Sylvaine (screenwriter), Charles Gilbert (art director)
Products	Comedy thriller film

Warn That Man is a 1943 British comedy thriller film helmed by director Lawrence Huntington, featuring performances from Gordon Harker, Raymond Lovell, and Finlay Currie. The screenplay, co-written by Huntington and Vernon Sylvaine, adapts Sylvaine's 1941 theatrical work Warn That Man!, which enjoyed a ten-month run on the West End stage with Harker reprising his original role. The production took place at Welwyn Studios, with art director Charles Gilbert responsible for the film’s set design.

The narrative bears resemblance to the later 1976 film The Eagle Has Landed, as both revolve around a German scheme to abduct Prime Minister Winston Churchill from an English countryside location.

Plot

Set against the backdrop of World War II, the plot follows a German actor who closely resembles a British nobleman and assumes his identity to aid in an attempt to kidnap Churchill during his stay at a country estate. The scheme becomes complicated when the nobleman’s niece unexpectedly arrives accompanied by her RAF pilot fiancé and two companions who had previously rescued him after his aircraft was downed at sea.

Cast

• Gordon Harker as George Hawkins
• Raymond Lovell as Hausemann / Lord Buckley
• Finlay Currie as Captain Andrew Fletcher
• Philip Friend as John Cooper
• Jean Kent as Frances Lane
• Frederick Cooper as Charles / Frampton
• Carl Jaffe as Schultz
• John Salew as Wilson
• Veronica Rose as Miss Conway
• Anthony Hawtrey as Brent
• Anthony Holles as waiter
• Patrick Aherne as Mellows
• Frank Bagnall as Lehmann
• Ferdy Mayne as German radio operator
• Friedrich Richter as Wolheim
• Leonard Sharp as Miles

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin praised the movie as "exciting and most entertaining," commending Raymond Lovell’s portrayal of both genuine and impostor Lord Buckley, along with the innovative cinematography that allowed him to appear in dual roles simultaneously.

According to Picture Show, the film delivers a "hectic melodrama" centered on Nazi agents impersonating members of an English country household, highlighting its thrilling pace and Gordon Harker’s engaging cockney comedic performance.

Leslie Halliwell remarked that although the stage production likely succeeded as a comedy-thriller, the film adaptation suffered from rigid direction.

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959, critic David Quinlan assigned it an "average" rating, observing that despite some suspenseful moments, the story’s implausibility lessened its overall effectiveness.