Directing

Francis Searle

Born — Died

1909-03-14 — 2002-07-31

Place of birth

Putney, London, England, UK

Known for

Directing

Credits

40 titles

Francis Searle (14 March 1909 – 31 July 2002) was an English film director, writer and producer. He was active in the post Second World War cinema industry. Amongst the films he directed were The Lady Craved Excitement (1950), One Way Out (1955) and It All Goes to Show (1969).

Known for

Behind the camera

Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard poster
6.2

In this contemporary update of Frank H. Spearman's Western hero, Whispering Smith is now a sleuth who arrives in London on holiday, but is soon called in to solve the case of a suicide which the father of the deceased woman thinks was murder.

Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard

1952

A Case For P.C. 49 poster
7.0

A model’s scheme to murder a millionaire with the intention of inheriting his fortune is uncovered by a police constable.

A Case For P.C. 49

1951

Final Appointment poster
6.1

A pair of reporters try to discover the link between three unsolved, seemingly isolated murders. The only connection between them is they all took place on the same day in three successive years. The police don't trust their instincts - but as 10th July nears again, a solicitor has started receiving threatening letters...

Final Appointment

1954

Things Happen at Night poster
4.7

A young girl finds herself possessed by the spirit of a mischievous demon.

Things Happen at Night

1948

The Lady Craved Excitement poster
5.8

A music-hall performer and her boyfriend find themselves caught up in the machinations of a trio of not particularly bright crooks.

The Lady Craved Excitement

1950

The Lady Craved Excitement poster
5.8

A music-hall performer and her boyfriend find themselves caught up in the machinations of a trio of not particularly bright crooks.

The Lady Craved Excitement

1950

A Hole Lot of Trouble poster
7.8

Three workmen assigned to dig a hole in a road for an electrical cable run into problems with local officials who believe the hole is being dug in the wrong place and should be closer to the home of a prissy fashion designer.

A Hole Lot of Trouble

1971

A Hole Lot of Trouble poster
7.8

Three workmen assigned to dig a hole in a road for an electrical cable run into problems with local officials who believe the hole is being dug in the wrong place and should be closer to the home of a prissy fashion designer.

A Hole Lot of Trouble

1971

Night of the Prowler poster
5.6

An avaricious, ambitious fellow, desiring to hold the reins for a major auto company, must frame someone for murder before he can get what he wants. He chooses a reformed embezzler who works for the company.

Night of the Prowler

1962

Celia: The Sinister Affair of Poor Aunt Nora poster
7.0

An actress, urged by her detective boyfriend, takes a job as housekeeper for a wealthy elderly woman. The woman's new young husband claims she's ill and refuses entry, raising suspicions about her whereabouts.

Celia: The Sinister Affair of Poor Aunt Nora

1949

Celia: The Sinister Affair of Poor Aunt Nora poster
7.0

An actress, urged by her detective boyfriend, takes a job as housekeeper for a wealthy elderly woman. The woman's new young husband claims she's ill and refuses entry, raising suspicions about her whereabouts.

Celia: The Sinister Affair of Poor Aunt Nora

1949

A Couple of Beauties poster
7.0

A witness to a mob murder hides out in a nightclub dressed in drag.

A Couple of Beauties

1971

A Couple of Beauties poster
7.0

A witness to a mob murder hides out in a nightclub dressed in drag.

A Couple of Beauties

1971

A Couple of Beauties poster
7.0

A witness to a mob murder hides out in a nightclub dressed in drag.

A Couple of Beauties

1971

Dead Man's Evidence poster
5.9

When a British secret agent's body washes up on the coast of Ireland, evidence implies that he was a traitor providing information to the Russians.

Dead Man's Evidence

1962

Dead Man's Evidence poster
5.9

When a British secret agent's body washes up on the coast of Ireland, evidence implies that he was a traitor providing information to the Russians.

Dead Man's Evidence

1962

Dead Man's Evidence poster
5.9

When a British secret agent's body washes up on the coast of Ireland, evidence implies that he was a traitor providing information to the Russians.

Dead Man's Evidence

1962

Wheel of Fate poster
5.5

Two brothers work in their invalid father's repair garage. Johnny is the quiet, reliable one while Ted is younger and wilder. The brothers feud over Lucky, a beautiful band singer. Then their life is complicated: first by a police search for the unknown killer of a man in a dance hall fight, and then by a bookie pressuring Ted to pay his gambling debts.

Wheel of Fate

1953

The Man in Black poster
6.0

A woman conspires to steal her stepdaughter's inheritance following the mysterious death of her millionaire husband.

The Man in Black

1950

No artwork available
6.3

A man and his sister live in a country home, not knowing that there is stolen loot hidden there. A gang of criminals attempts to get them to move so they can get the loot for themselves.

Someone at the Door

1950

It All Goes to Show poster
9.0

A fading seaside resort attempt to revive its fortunes with a summer show.

It All Goes to Show

1969

It All Goes to Show poster
9.0

A fading seaside resort attempt to revive its fortunes with a summer show.

It All Goes to Show

1969

Talk of the Devil poster
7.5

Infelicitous Stephen Wallace falls in love with beautiful Wendy, who spurns his affections. He proceeds to make a pact with Satan to be able to marry the woman of his dreams, but he gets more than he bargained for.

Talk of the Devil

1968

Talk of the Devil poster
7.5

Infelicitous Stephen Wallace falls in love with beautiful Wendy, who spurns his affections. He proceeds to make a pact with Satan to be able to marry the woman of his dreams, but he gets more than he bargained for.

Talk of the Devil

1968

Gold Is Where You Find It poster
7.0

A millionaire returns to Ireland and loses his gold nuggets before disappearing and sparking a gold rush.

Gold Is Where You Find It

1968

No artwork available
6.2

A theatre producer and actor try in vain to have a quiet week in a country cottage. But their efforts turn into comic disaster as a variety of wives, girlfriends and scoutmasters arrive uninvited.

Love's a Luxury

1952

No artwork available
6.2

A theatre producer and actor try in vain to have a quiet week in a country cottage. But their efforts turn into comic disaster as a variety of wives, girlfriends and scoutmasters arrive uninvited.

Love's a Luxury

1952

Sports Day poster
10.0

A schoolboy almost misses the school sports day when he is wrongly punished for cruelty to a dog.

Sports Day

1944

Sports Day poster
10.0

A schoolboy almost misses the school sports day when he is wrongly punished for cruelty to a dog.

Sports Day

1944

The Diplomatic Corpse poster
6.0

London police and reporters from a local newspaper go after a gang of foreign criminals.

The Diplomatic Corpse

1958

Cloudburst poster
6.4

Canadian World War II veteran John Graham works in London as a code breaker. Tragedy strikes when his pregnant wife, Carol, is accidentally run over by two crooks who are speeding away from the scene of a murder. Haunted, grieving, and thirsting for revenge, Graham sets out to find the two fugitive murderers.

Cloudburst

1951

Cloudburst poster
6.4

Canadian World War II veteran John Graham works in London as a code breaker. Tragedy strikes when his pregnant wife, Carol, is accidentally run over by two crooks who are speeding away from the scene of a murder. Haunted, grieving, and thirsting for revenge, Graham sets out to find the two fugitive murderers.

Cloudburst

1951

Murder at 3am poster
6.0

A police detective suspects that his sister's boyfriend is a murderer.

Murder at 3am

1953

Freedom to Die poster
6.1

Paul Maxwell plays Craig Owen, an incarcerated criminal whose cellmate holds the secret to the valuable contents within a safe deposit box. When the cellmate dies, Owen breaks out of jail in search of the stash. Unable to open the box, the fugitive abducts Linda (Felicity Young), the dead man's daughter. Tension mounts as the girl plays for time to prevent her own demise.

Freedom to Die

1961

The Marked One poster
7.1

William Lucas plays a lorry driver who is recently out of prison. He becomes a target when it s discovered that he knows where he can find plates for making forged banknotes.

The Marked One

1963

The Rossiter Case poster
6.4

The happy marriage of Liz and Peter Rossiter is shattered after Liz is paralysed in an accident. Peter soon finds solace with Honor, his sister-in-law, but when she tells him she is expecting his child he is racked with guilt and turns to drink. When Honor is found murdered with Peter's gun next to her, the police arrest him. Unable to remember his movements he must discover the secret behind "The Rossiter Case".

The Rossiter Case

1951

The Rossiter Case poster
6.4

The happy marriage of Liz and Peter Rossiter is shattered after Liz is paralysed in an accident. Peter soon finds solace with Honor, his sister-in-law, but when she tells him she is expecting his child he is racked with guilt and turns to drink. When Honor is found murdered with Peter's gun next to her, the police arrest him. Unable to remember his movements he must discover the secret behind "The Rossiter Case".

The Rossiter Case

1951

No artwork available
NR

Short World War II documentary serving as a nursing recruitment ad.

Hospital Nurse

1941

A Girl in a Million poster
6.3

A young scientist freed by divorce from a nagging wife, isolates himself from women. His peace is broken by a lovely young girl to whom he is forced to give shelter. He marries her and finds that his dumb wife is not so dumb.

A Girl in a Million

1946

Never Look Back poster
6.5

Anne Maitland, a female lawyer, receives an unexpected late-night visit from ex-boyfriend Guy Ransome. She agrees to let him sleep on the sofa but he must leave the next morning. When he returns home he finds that his girlfriend has been murdered. His former lover agrees to defend him without telling the court that he spent the night with her. Complications ensue.

Never Look Back

1952