Herbert Lom, Donald Wolfitt, William Hartnell, Mai Zitterling, Denholm Elliot star in a cracking good adaption of the Edgar Wallace tale of a once great criminal mastermind returning to England to get revenge on the man who caused his sisters death.
Breezy and enjoyable film is one of the best Edgar Wallace adaptions I've seen. It's not because the film does anything special with the hunt for the hidden killer, rather it works because the film as such a strong cast working at the top of their game it's a pleasure to see what they do.
As good as everyone is the real joy here is Hartnell, the first actor to play Dr Who. Typically cast as hardened crooks and low level military types with a cranky attitude, here is goes against type and plays it all rather silly as a just release crook who works for Herbert Lom. Talking a mile a minute and being a tad goofy reveals sides to Hartnell which finally makes me fully understand why he becomes the First Doctor after playing so many cliched roles- he had real range which few films really showcased.
I don't know what to say but do try to track this film down because its a cracking good mystery that was and is a prototype for dozens that followed

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