Devil’s Bait ** (1959, Geoffrey Keen, Jane Hylton, Gordon Jackson) – Classic Movie Review 12,829

The odd, rather interesting little 1959 British B-movie drama film Devil’s Bait stars Geoffrey Keen, Jane Hylton and Gordon Jackson.

Director Peter Graham Scott’s odd, rather interesting little 1959 film Devil’s Bait stars Geoffrey Keen, Jane Hylton and Gordon Jackson.

Devil’s Bait is a short and tolerable British B-movie drama with Keen and Hylton as a baker and his wife, Joe and Ellen Frisby, helping police Sergeant Malcolm (Jackson) to find loaves that they accidentally baked on a poisoned tin.

This different idea in the original screenplay by Peter Johnston and Diana K Watson alas ends up rather half baked through the lack of style and pace, though Peter Graham Scott does manage to build in some much needed suspense and tension.

But it is quite enjoyable in its undemanding and simple way as a late Fifties second feature filler film, while the vintage Brit cast is very welcome, including several first-class actors of the period, rounding out their characters effectively.

Also in the cast are Dermot Kelly, Shirley Lawrence, Eileen Moore, Molly Urquhart, Rupert Davies, Gillian Vaughan, Barbara Archer, Timothy Bateson, Noel Hood, Vivienne Bennett, and Jack Stewart.

Devil’s Bait is directed by Peter Graham Scott, runs 58 minutes, is made by Independent Artists, is released by Rank Film Distributors (UK), is written by Peter Johnston and Diana Watson, is shot in black and white by Michael Reed, is produced by Arthur Alcott (production supervisor), Leslie Parkyn and Julian Wintle, and is scored by William Alwyn.

Release date: December 1959 (UK).

It is made at Beaconsfield Studios, Buckinghamshire, England, with some location filming.

The cast are Geoffrey Keen as Joe Frisby, Jane Hylton as Ellen Frisby, Gordon Jackson as Sergeant Malcolm, Dermot Kelly as Mr Love, Shirley Lawrence as Shirley, Eileen Moore as Barbara, Molly Urquhart as Mr Tanner, Noel Hood as Mrs Evans, Rupert Davies as landlord, Gillian Vaughan, Barbara Archer, Timothy Bateson, Noel Hood, Vivienne Bennett, and Jack Stewart.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,829

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