The Frog is a 1937 British crime film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Gordon Harker, Noah Beery, Jack Hawkins and Carol Goodner.[2] The film is about the police chasing a criminal mastermind who goes by the name of The Frog. It was based on the 1925 novel The Fellowship of the Frog by Edgar Wallace, and the 1936 play version by Ian Hay. It was followed by a loose sequel The Return of the Frog, the following year.
| The Frog | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jack Raymond |
| Written by | Ian Hay (adaptation) Gerald Elliott (screenplay) |
| Based on | novel The Fellowship of the Frog by Edgar Wallace |
| Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Starring | Gordon Harker Noah Beery Jack Hawkins Carol Goodner |
| Cinematography | Freddie Young (as F.A. Young) |
| Edited by | Merrill G. White (as Merrill White) Frederick Wilson (as Fred Wilson) |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Cast
edit- Gordon Harker as Sgt. Elk
- Noah Beery as Joshua Broad
- Jack Hawkins as Captain Gordon
- Carol Goodner as Lola Bassano
- Richard Ainley as Ray Bennett
- Vivian Gaye as Stella Bennett
- Esme Percy as Philo Johnson
- Felix Aylmer as John Bennett
- Cyril Smith as PC Balder
- Harold Franklyn as Hagen
- Gordon McLeod as Chief Commissioner
- Julien Mitchell as John Maitland
Critical reception
editWriting for Night and Day in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a poor review, describing it as "badly directed [and] badly acted". He admitted that "it has an old-world charm" but complained that the "well-mannered dialogue drones on".[3]
Britmovie called it a "routine thriller",[4] while British Pictures observed that the film "suffers through being an adaptation of a theatre adaptation (by Ian Hay) of the original novel. Some of the exposition is clunky and at times confusing; and the direction needed someone like Walter Forde to make the most of it. Hawkins and Harker, in the roles they played on stage, hold it together."[5]
See also
edit- Mark of the Frog (1928, film serial)
- Der Frosch mit der Maske (1959)
References
edit- ^ 'The Frog: New Gallery (A) Sunday', News Chronicle, 19 June 1937, p.10
- ^ "The Frog". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
- ^ Graham Greene, 'We from Kronstadt/The Frog/Make Way for Tomorrow/Der Herrscher', Night and Day, 1 July 1937; reprinted in John Russell Taylor (ed), The Pleasure Dome, Oxford University Press 1980, p.150
- ^ "The Frog". britmovie.co.uk.
- ^ David Absalom. "ARCHIVE Fou - Fz: British Films of the 30s, 40s and 50s". britishpictures.com.
External links
edit
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