
Writing
Charles Bennett
Born 1899-08-02 · Shoreham-by-Sea, England
Born just before the century turned, Charles Bennett made his writing debut as a child in 1911, fought in France during World War I while still a teen and resumed his acting career after the war's end. In 1926 he dropped acting to concentrate on being a playwright, later turning one of his most famous plays, "Blackmail," into a screenplay for production under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock. The affiliation with "Hitch" continued into the early 1940s, by which time both Bennett and the director were working in Hollywood. He wrote for producers ranging from Cecil B. DeMille to Irwin Allen to the penny-pinching folks at AIP. "If I couldn't write, I wouldn't want to live," commented Bennett, who had projects (including a remake of "Blackmail") going right up to the time of his death.
Acting credits
7.3Richard Hanney has a rude awakening when a glamorous female spy falls into his bed - with a knife in her back. Having a bit of trouble explaining it all to Scotland Yard, he heads for the hills of Scotland to try to clear his name by locating the spy ring known as The 39 Steps.
The 39 Steps
1935
NRHobbled Hearts comedy short
Hobbled Hearts
1917
NRMary Beth rents an attic room to Richard, a composer. Frustrated with the publishers demands for cheap, trashy songs, Richard, penniless, tries to asphyxiate himself, but Mary intervenes, encouraging him to go on. Mary finds his song, and secretly sells a song she finds of his, "The Rainbow Girl", to a publisher, later finding out that she, herself, is the Rainbow Girl he wrote about.
The Rainbow Girl
1917
3.5This story is about a crusading scientist out to stop nuclear testing who is motivated by scientific fact, conscience and faith. Dr. Alex Carmody (Martin Sheen) is a physicist who becomes convinced that if the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. continue to test nuclear weapons, eventually one of these tests will set off an atomic chain reaction that will obliterate the world. Carmody travels to Portugal where he tries talks to one of the women who in 1911 saw a vision of the Virgin Mary that spoke to her and her two companions about the future. Carmody is certain that the Virgin Mary predicted the very chain reaction he and his co-worker Dr. Kenneth Parrish (Peter Firth) envision. Failing in his attempt to talk to the woman, Carmody then travels to Paris and elsewhere, warning Soviet and American officials that the tests they are planning should be cancelled before they become their last.
A State of Emergency
1986
An apprentice inherits a master's mill, weds a disowned heiress, and remains true to his class.
John Halifax, Gentleman
1915
Behind the camera
7.0American crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.
Foreign Correspondent
1940
6.4As the Japanese sweep through the East Indies during World War II, Dr. Wassell is determined to escape from Java with some crewmen of the cruiser Marblehead. Based on a true story of how Dr. Wassell saved a dozen or so wounded sailors who were left behind when able bodied men were evacuated to Australia.
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944
6.6When Ivy, an Edwardian belle, begins to like Miles, a wealthy gentleman, she is unsure of what to do with her husband, Jervis, or her lover, Dr. Roger. She then hatches a plan to get rid of them both.
Ivy
1947
6.5England, 1763. After being convicted of a crime, the young and beautiful Abigail Hale agrees, to escape the gallows, to serve fourteen years as a slave in the colony of Virginia, whose inhabitants begin to hear and fear the sinister song of the threatening drums of war that resound in the wild Ohio valley.
Unconquered
1947
6.5When 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
7.0American professor John Holden arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover that the colleague he was supposed to meet was killed in a freak accident the day before. It turns out that the deceased had been investigating a cult lead by Dr. Julian Karswell. Though a skeptic, Holden is suspicious of the devil-worshiping Karswell. Following a trail of mysterious manuscripts, Holden enters a world that makes him question his faith in science.
Night of the Demon
1957
6.5While vacationing in St. Moritz, a British couple receive a clue to an imminent assassination attempt, only to learn that their daughter has been kidnapped to keep them quiet.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
1934
5.7The crew of an atomic submarine battle to save the world from global destruction.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1961
6.4A hypnotist uses his powers for revenge against King Louis XV's court.
Black Magic
1949
6.1During World War I, a novelist declared dead is recruited by British intelligence and sent to Switzerland under a new identity to assassinate a German spy. Teamed with a fellow agent posing as his wife and an eccentric assassin known as “the General,” the trio close in on their target — until two of them grow ambivalent when their duty to the mission clashes with their consciences.
Secret Agent
1936
5.0A chance discovery leads American mining engineer Ben Harris and acquaintance Harold to discover a lost city under the sea while searching for their kidnapped friend Jill. Held captive in the underwater city by the tyrannical Captain (Vincent Price), and his crew of former smugglers, the three plot to escape...
War-Gods of the Deep
1965
6.7Karl Anton Verloc and his wife own a small cinema in a quiet London suburb where they live seemingly happily. But Mrs. Verloc does not know that her husband has a secret that will affect their relationship and threaten her teenage brother's life.
Sabotage
1937
9.0A butcher and a draper stand for election to the local council.
Hawleys of High Street
1933
6.4The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.
Reap the Wild Wind
1942
7.0Mary Herries has a passion for art and fine furniture. Even though she is getting on in years, she enjoys being around these priceless articles. One day she meets a strange young painter named Elcott, who uses his painting skill to enter into her life. Little does she expect that his only interest in Mary is to covet everything she has.
Kind Lady
1951
5.8Professor Challenger leads an expedition of scientists and adventurers to a remote plateau deep in the Amazonian jungle to verify his claim that dinosaurs still live there.
The Lost World
1960
No synopsis available yet.
Night Mail
1935
6.4A young doctor falls in love with a disturbed young woman and apparently becomes involved in the death of her husband. They head for Mexico trying to outrun the law.
Where Danger Lives
1950
6.0A fake psychic suddenly turns into the real thing when he meets a young beauty. (TCM)
The Clairvoyant
1935
6.6A circus owner tries to keep his financially troubled circus on the road, despite the efforts of a murderous saboteur who has decided that the show must not go on.
The Big Circus
1959
5.5Professor Fergusson plans to make aviation history by making his way across Africa by balloon. He plans to claim uncharted territories in West Africa as proof of his inventions worth.
Five Weeks in a Balloon
1962
4.4The devil and the spirit of mankind argue as to whether or not humanity is ultimately good or evil.
The Story of Mankind
1957
7.5In World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret is in London during the Blitz to sell the ancestral family house. The current tenant, Leslie Trimble, tries to dissuade him from selling by telling him the 140-year history of the place and the connections between the Trimble and Pomfret families.
Forever and a Day
1943
6.5An RAF squadron is brought down over occupied France. The flyers get to Paris in spite of the fact that the youngest, Baby, is injured. He must be hidden and his wounds cared for. The Gestapo has already issued orders for their arrest.
Joan of Paris
1942