Secrets of Scotland Yard

Secrets of Scotland Yard is a 1944 American thriller film directed by George Blair and starring Edgar Barrier, Stephanie Bachelor and C. Aubrey Smith.[1] The screenplay was by Denison Clift, adapting one of his own stories "Room 40, O.B." from Blue Book Magazine.[2] It concerns a British police detective who goes undercover to root out a Nazi spy in Britain's decoding organization.

Secrets of Scotland Yard
Directed byGeorge Blair
Written byDenison Clift
Produced byGeorge Blair
StarringEdgar Barrier
Stephanie Bachelor
C. Aubrey Smith
Lionel Atwill
CinematographyWilliam Bradford
Edited byFred Allen
Music byCharles Maxwell
Production
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Distributed byRepublic Pictures
Release date
  • July 26, 1944 (1944-07-26)
Running time
68 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Cast

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Critical reception

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  • Silentcomedymafia.com noted that director "Blair keeps up the pace and suspense perfectly well, giving the film a relatively expensive look when you know full well (Republic president) Herbert Yates is pinching every penny."[3]
  • In The Star-spangled Screen: The American World War II Film, Bernard F. Dick called the film "first-rate espionage and one of the studios classier efforts...Another instance of a minor film that shows considerably more intelligence than many major ones. It is the only film of the period to explain the techniques of Cryptoanalysis, particularly how page numbers of a book can provide the key to a code."[4]

Bibliography

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  • Dick, Bernard F. The Star-Spangled Screen: The American World War II Film. University Press of Kentucky, 1996.
  • Glancy, H. Mark. When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939-1945. Manchester University Press, 1999.
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References

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  1. ^ "Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944) | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  2. ^ "Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944) - Screenplay Info". TCM.com. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  3. ^ Roberts, Richard M (April 26, 2014). "• View topic - Cinevent Notes: SECRETS OF SCOTLAND YARD (1944)". Silentcomedymafia.com. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  4. ^ Dick, Bernard F. (1996). The Star-spangled Screen: The American World War II Film - Bernard F. Dick - Google Books. ISBN 0813128218. Retrieved August 24, 2014.