Loading AI tools
1936 British film by George King From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Crimes of Stephen Hawke is a 1936 British historical melodrama film directed by George King and starring Tod Slaughter as the nefarious Stephen Hawke - who masquerades as the 'Spine-Breaker'. It also features Marjorie Taylor, D. J. Williams and Eric Portman. It was made at Shepperton Studios, with sets designed by Philip Bawcombe.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2019) |
The Crimes of Stephen Hawke | |
---|---|
Written by | Jack Celestin Frederick Hayward H. F. Maltby Tod Slaughter Paul White |
Starring | Tod Slaughter Marjorie Taylor D. J. Williams Eric Portman Graham Soutten |
Cinematography | Ronald Neame |
Edited by | John Seabourne Sr. |
Music by | Colin Wark [citation needed] (uncredited) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | MGM |
Release date |
|
Running time | 12th |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
This is the third of Tod Slaughter's film outings, billed as a 'new-old melodrama'. In the introduction Slaughter appears in person, in a BBC studio, where he describes with relish his murderous activities in his two previous films: Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn (1935) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936).
In the film Slaughter plays a seemingly kindly money-lender who dotes on his daughter Julia. He has however a double life as the notorious 'Spine-Breaker', Victorian England's most maniacal serial killer. His nefarious activities are eventually detected by his daughter's suitor Matthew Trimble, the son of one of his victims, who after pursuing and failing to catch him somewhat charitably opines to his daughter:
In the end Slaughter comes out of hiding to kill another unwelcome suitor of his daughter, before falling to his death from the roof of his house in a dramatic final exit.
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.