Dick Barton at Bay

Dick Barton at Bay is a 1950 British second feature ('B')^[1] spy film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Don Stannard.^[2] It was written by Ambrose Grayson and was intended to be the second of three films that Hammer Film Productions made about the British agent Dick Barton, although it was the last one to be released, following Dick Barton: Special Agent (1948) and Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949).^[3] The film started production on March 4, 1948 (intended to be the 2nd film in a Dick Barton trilogy), but it was only trade shown on Sept. 2, 1950, and theatrically released on Oct. 2, 1950. The film's original working title was Dick Barton and the Ray of Death.^[4]

Dick Barton at Bay
Original trade ad in Kinematograph Weekly
Directed by	Godfrey Grayson
Written by	Ambrose Grayson (based on the BBC radio series)
Produced by	Henry Halstead
Starring	Don Stannard
Cinematography	Stanley Clinton
Edited by	Max Brenner
Music by	Rupert Grayson Frank Spencer
Production company	Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by	Exclusive Films
Release date	2 October 1950 (1950-10-02)
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

Captain Richard 'Dick' Barton and his sidekick 'Snowey' White are quickly assigned to recover a kidnapped scientist and de-activate a death ray created by the evil foreign agent Volkoff, who wants to use it to bring down British planes.

Cast

• Don Stannard as Dick Barton
• Tamara Desni as Anna
• George Ford as Snowey White
• Meinhart Maur as Serge Volkoff
• Joyce Linden as Mary Mitchell
• Percy Walsh as Professor Mitchell
• Campbell Singer as Sir George Cavendish
• John Arnatt as Jackson
• Richard George as Inspector Slade
• Beatrice Kane as Betsy Horrock
• Patrick Macnee as Phillips (Credited as Patrick McNee)
• George Crawford as Boris
• Paddy Ryan as Fingers
• Fred Owens as gangster (credited as Fred Owen)
• Yoshihide Yanai as Chang
• Ted Butterfield as Tommy
• Arthur Howard as extra
• Eliot Makeham as police sergeant
• Jim O'Brady as henchman
• Ross Parker as stall holder
• Ben Williams as Submarine Captain Korczanski

Production

A fourth Dick Barton film was scheduled, to be called Dick Barton in Darkest Africa, but Don Stannard was killed in an untimely car crash driving back from the wrap party on July 9, 1949, and Hammer elected not to continue the series.^[5][6]

Critical reception

Sky Cinema wrote: "In their rush to get Barton on to the screen, the makers, despite using the original radio serials as a basis, neglected to give the films the proper budget, resulting in Dick's adventures having an air of tatty, thick-ear melodrama which was never present for the millions of wireless devotees glued to their sets every night at 6.45pm."^[7]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Strictly for younger schoolboys."^[8]

TV Guide noted "a simple action-adventure film that moves at an entertaining pace."^[9]

Allmovie called it "a far better thriller than its predecessor".^[3]