Pages

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Sexton Blake And The Hooded Terror (1938)

Starring George Curzon, Tod Slaughter, Greta Gynt, Tony Sympson, Charles Oliver
Directed by George King
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The head of a secret society of criminals plans a conference with his lackeys in London, but before long reputed detective Sexton Blake is on the villain's trail.

This film offers a bit of a departure from the usual vehicles for British thespian Tod Slaughter, not playing a psychotic killer here, but a master criminal, and also deferring top billing to Curzon's Sexton Blake.  The Slaughter/Curzon interplay comes off very similar to the Professor Moriarty/Sherlock Holmes dynamic in the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Nevertheless, Slaughter is again fine in his role, plotting his evil schemes from behind a wispy beard, and lusting after his henchman's attractive girlfriend, in reality a covert agent for the French government.  As with the other Slaughter/George King collaborations, the pacing is exciting and the unveiling of the plot well-done, a fine complement to Slaughter's engaging performance.

No comments:

Post a Comment