Basil Radford

Acting

Basil Radford

Born 1897-06-25 · Chester, England, UK

Arthur Basil Radford (25 June 1897 – 20 October 1952) was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s. He is probably best remembered for his appearances alongside Naunton Wayne as one half of Charters and Caldicott, two cricket-obsessed Englishmen who appeared in several films from 1938 to 1949, most famously in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes.

Acting credits

The Lady Vanishes poster
7.4

On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris befriends elderly Miss Froy. When the train resumes, Iris suffers a bout of unconsciousness and wakes to find the old woman has disappeared. The other passengers ominously deny Miss Froy ever existed, so Iris begins to investigate with another traveler and, as the pair sleuth, romantic sparks fly.

The Lady Vanishes

1938

Young and Innocent poster
6.5

When a young writer is falsely accused of murdering a famous actress, he escapes custody and joins forces with the daughter of a police constable to prove his innocence.

Young and Innocent

1937

Dead of Night poster
7.2

An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.

Dead of Night

1945

Night Train to Munich poster
7.2

Czechoslovakia, March 1939, on the eve of World War II. As the German invaders occupy Prague, inventor Axel Bomasch manages to flee and reach England; but those who need to put his knowledge at the service of the Nazi war machine, in order to carry out their evil plans of destruction, will stop at nothing to capture him.

Night Train to Munich

1940

Jamaica Inn poster
6.1

In early 19th-century Cornwall, young Mary Yellan travels to live with her aunt and uncle at the remote Jamaica Inn, where she discovers the inn is a front for a violent gang of wreckers who lure ships to their doom along the coast. As she becomes entangled in their crimes, Mary must fight to survive and uncover the truth behind the terror that haunts the moors.

Jamaica Inn

1939

The Winslow Boy poster
7.0

In pre-WWI England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.

The Winslow Boy

1948

Passport to Pimlico poster
6.9

When an unexploded WWII bomb is accidentally detonated in Pimlico, it reveals a treasure trove and documents proving that the region is in fact part of Burgundy, France and thus foreign territory. The British government attempts to regain control by setting up border controls and cutting off services to the area.

Passport to Pimlico

1949

Whisky Galore! poster
6.8

Whisky Galore! is a 1949 British comedy film produced by Ealing Studios, starring Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson. It was the directorial debut of Alexander Mackendrick; the screenplay was by Compton Mackenzie, an adaptation of his 1947 novel Whisky Galore, and Angus MacPhail. The story—based on a true event, the running aground of the SS Politician—concerns a shipwreck off a fictional Scottish island, the inhabitants of which have run out of whisky because of wartime rationing. The islanders find out the ship is carrying 50,000 cases of whisky, some of which they salvage, against the opposition of the local Customs and Excise men.

Whisky Galore!

1949

Millions Like Us poster
5.6

When Celia Crowson is called up for war service, she hopes for a glamorous job in one of the services, but as a single girl, she is directed into a factory making aircraft parts. Here she meets other girls from all different walks of life and begins a relationship with a young airman.

Millions Like Us

1943

Helter Skelter poster
6.4

A detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping.

Helter Skelter

1949

The Captive Heart poster
6.4

A series of stories about the lives and loves of men in a Prisoner of War camp over five years. The main story is of Hasek (Redgrave) a Czech soldier who needs to keep his identity a secret from the Nazis. To do this, he poses as a dead English Officer and corresponds with the man's wife. Other inmates’ stories are also revealed. Location shooting in the British occupied part of Germany adds believability.

The Captive Heart

1946

White Corridors poster
6.8

White Corridors was based on Yeoman Hospital, a novel by Helen Ashton. Told episodically, the story concentrates on the day-to-day activities in a busy hospital, where research pathologist Neil Marriner (James Donald) conducts experiments in the hopes of curing diseases impervious to penicillin. Marriner is aided in this endeavor by lady surgeon Dr. Sophie Dean (Googie Withers), who happens to be in love with him. After a tragedy occurs for which Marriner holds himself responsible, the film builds steadily to an exciting climax involving a untested -- and potentially dangerous -- serum. The top-rank British supporting cast includes Barry Jones, Moira Lister, Petula Clark, Basil Radford, Dagmar (later Dana) Wynter, Bernard Lee, and, in a minor role, future "Dr. Who" Patrick Troughton.

White Corridors

1951

The Four Just Men poster
6.7

The Four Men of the title are British WWI veterans who decide to work secretly against enemies of the country. They aren't above a bit of murder or sabotage to serve their ends, but they consider themselves to be true patriots.

The Four Just Men

1939

Girl in the News poster
6.5

An elderly lady manages to sneak some pills away from her nurse and dies of an overdose. The nurse is tried for murder and acquitted. Some time later the nurse, under a new name and identity, cares for a patient who also dies of an overdose. When her real identity comes out, suspicions arise.

Girl in the News

1940

Seven Days Leave poster
6.6

In London, during WWI, a lonely woman who wants to feel a part of the war effort pretends to her friends to have a son fighting in the war. She is shocked when he shows up on her doorstep, and they make an agreement that he will pretend to be her son. "Seven Days Leave" is a screen adaption of James M. Barrie's play, "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals."

Seven Days Leave

1930

Quartet poster
6.3

Somerset Maugham introduces four of his tales in this anthology film: "The Facts of Life," "The Alien Corn," "The Kite," and "The Colonel's Lady."

Quartet

1948

The Way to the Stars poster
6.0

Life on a British bomber base, and the surrounding towns, from the opening days of the Battle of Britain, to the arrival of the Americans, who join in the bomber offensive. The film centres around Pilot Officer Peter Penrose, fresh out of a training unit, who joins the squadron, and quickly discovers about life during war time. He falls for Iris, a young girl who lives at the local hotel, but he becomes disillusioned about marriage, when the squadron commander dies in a raid, and leaves his wife, the hotel manageress, with a young son to bring up. As the war progresses, Penross comes to terms that he has survived, while others have been killed.

The Way to the Stars

1945

Jump for Glory poster
5.7

A London cat burglar falls for the girlfriend of a stockbroker who used to be his partner.

Jump for Glory

1937

The Next of Kin poster
5.0

Lots of slogans such as "Be like Dad, Keep Mum" and "Keep it under your Hat" are visible on the walls in various scenes to reinforce the plot of this British wartime movie illustrating how gossipy talk can result in unknowingly giving valuable information to Nazi spies.

The Next of Kin

1942

Let's Be Famous poster
6.2

An Irishman sets out to become famous as a singer on the radio. Due to a mix up he is instead entered as a contestant on a quiz show.

Let's Be Famous

1939

Unpublished Story poster
6.5

Morale-boosting story released in the middle of World War II. A journalist uncovers a peace organisation at the centre of disreputable dealings.

Unpublished Story

1942

Room for Two poster
8.0

Robert Spencer is having an affair with his wife's friend Hilda. When a man approaches Hilda, proclaiming his love for Robert's wife Claire, Hilda tries to matchmake. All four end up together in Venice, the amorous Michael disguised as an Austrian lady's maid to Claire. Claire uncovers her husband's infidelities and decides to divorce him and take a chance on Michael.

Room for Two

1940

Stop Press Girl poster
5.9

A young woman leaves her backwards hometown to go to London to find a runaway suitor. What she doesn't know is that she has inherited a strange ability; if she's in the vicinity of a machine for more than fifteen minutes, it stops working.

Stop Press Girl

1949

Crook's Tour poster
6.0

Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East. After visiting Saudi Arabia they find themselves in Bagdad where they are mistaken by a group of German spies for the messengers who are to carry a song record by beautiful singer La Palermo which contains secret instructions of the German Intelligence. Realizing their error, the German spies follow Charters and Caldicott to Istanbul and Budapest, trying to eliminate them and retrieve the record.

Crook's Tour

1940