The Crimes of Stephen Hawke | |
---|---|
Directed by | George King |
Produced by | George King |
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 |
Music by | Colin Wark |
Cinematography | Ronald Neame |
Editing by | John Seabourne Sr. |
Release date(s) | May 1936 |
Running time | 69 Mins |
Country | UK |
Language | English |
The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936) is a British period film melodrama 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.
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.
|