Production

Hal E. Chester

Born 1921-03-06 · Brooklyn, NY

Hal Chester started his career as a child actor in the United States, but in the mid-1950s moved to Britain, where he is remembered as the producer of films including the classic horror Night of the Demon (1957), as well as School for Scoundrels (1960).

Acting credits

Sea Raiders poster
6.5

A bunch of waterfront youths pursue the Sea Raiders, a gang of saboteurs.

Sea Raiders

1941

Crime School poster
6.4

In the slums, teenager Frankie Warren hangs out with a rowdy gang who one day knock him out in a fight. In court, the boys refuse to reveal who struck the knockout blow, and all are subsequently sentenced to a reformatory, cruelly run by two corrupt guards. New deputy commissioner Mark Braden arrives determined to change things, but despite the help of Frankie's sister, Mark's reform plans -- and Frankie's future -- may be sabotaged from within.

Crime School

1938

East Side Kids poster
6.4

After living all his childhood in the street, a young boy rapidly notices that crime doesn't pay, leading him to become a policeman. One day, one of his best friends goes to prison for a murder he didn't commit. The policeman tries his best to release the friend by proving his innocence.

East Side Kids

1940

The Witness Vanishes poster
7.0

In this mystery, a newspaper executive and three of his colleagues conspire to have the owner of the highly-respected London Sun committed to an insane asylum. The hapless publisher manages to escape. Soon after, the four collaborators begin dying one-by-one. Oddly their obituaries appear in a rival publication before they are actually killed.

The Witness Vanishes

1939

You're Not So Tough poster
5.0

The Dead End Kids are out of the slums of New York's East Side and running around the sunny valleys of California looking for a way to make a quick buck. The idea of working never enters their minds until Halop is egged on by Grey to show his capabilities. Before long, he and Hall are working on the ranch of Galli, an elderly Italian woman who treats her workers like human beings instead of animals. Galli's son disappeared as an infant, and Halop tries to convince her that he is that long lost son, thus possibly sharing in her wealth. Galli is such a good person that Halop is soon motivated by respect instead of greed, so he devises a plan to help her when truckers and a labor organization band together to keep her crops from making it to market.

You're Not So Tough

1940

Off the Record poster
6.4

After a socially conscience reporter adopts a slum orphan after she causes his brother's gang to go to prison.

Off the Record

1939

Code of the Streets poster
7.7

Frankie Thomas plays Bob Lewis, leader of a gang consisting of Sailor, Murph, Monk, Trouble and Yap. The son of disgraced police officer Lt. Lewis, Bob vows to clear his dad's name, and also to prove that accused murderer Tommy Shay is innocent.

Code of the Streets

1939

Newsboys' Home poster
8.0

A beautiful girl inherits a newspaper that sponsors a charity home for boys.

Newsboys' Home

1938

Little Tough Guys in Society poster
7.3

A society matron invites the gang to her estate as playmates for her spoiled brat son.

Little Tough Guys in Society

1938

Little Tough Guy poster
5.7

The son of a man sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit vows to become a criminal himself. He starts his own street gang, and their crime spree is financed by a mysterious young man--who turns out to be the son of the District Attorney who sent the boy's father to the electric chair.

Little Tough Guy

1938

Juvenile Court poster
6.0

Public Defender Gary Franklin, frustrated by being unable to save criminal Dutch Adams from a death sentence by blaming the slums environment as the cause of Dutch's crimes, enlists the aid of Dutch's sister, Marcia Adams, to get the slum dwellers at appeal for public monies to provide recreational places for the slum kids.

Juvenile Court

1938

Hit the Road poster
7.0

Kids look to get revenge when their fathers are all killed in a mob war.

Hit the Road

1941

Boys of the City poster
5.3

Street kids get sent to the country, where they get mixed up in murder and a haunted house.

Boys of the City

1940

Junior G-Men poster
6.5

A gang of urban street kids and a club of suburban would-be federal agents, at first rivals, join forces to rescue the father of one of the kids, the inventor of a super-explosive and its remote detonator, from the clutches of a band of foreign subversives call the "Flaming Torch Gang". A 12-episode movie serial with the chapters: •1. Enemies Within •2. The Blast of Doom •3. Human Dynamite •4. Blazing Danger •5. Trapped By Traitors •6. Traitors' Treachery •7. Flaming Death •8. Hurled Through Space •9. The Plunge of Peril •10.The Toll of Treason •11.Descending Doom •12.The Power of Patriotism

Junior G-Men

1940

Behind the camera

Night of the Demon poster
7.0

American 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

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms poster
6.6

The controlled explosion of an atomic bomb in the Arctic Circle awakens a frozen dinosaur that will wreak havoc in New York City.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

1953

The Double Man poster
6.3

In a complex piece of espionage the Russian secret service attempts to kidnap a high ranking officer in the CIA and replace him with a one of its own.

The Double Man

1967

Triple Cross poster
9.0

Joe Palooka and two friends are taking hostage by three criminals.

Triple Cross

1951

The Underworld Story poster
6.3

A blacklisted reporter brings his shady ways to a small-town newspaper after being fired from a big city daily.

The Underworld Story

1950

Take a Girl Like You poster
5.8

Young Jenny heads to the South of England to start a new career as a school teacher. Even before she has had a chance to settle in she meets Patrick, one of the local "lads". Within a short time she has her hands full when a number of the local boys take a liking to her. But who will be the lucky one who wins her affections?

Take a Girl Like You

1970

School for Scoundrels poster
6.9

Hapless Henry Palfrey is patronised by his self-important chief clerk at work, ignored by restaurant waiters, conned by shady second-hand car salesmen, and, worst of all, endlessly wrong-footed by unspeakably rotten cad Raymond Delauney who has set his cap at April, new love of Palfrey's life. In desperation Henry enrolls at the College of Lifemanship to learn how to best such bounders and win the girl.

School for Scoundrels

1960

Joe Palooka in Winner Take All poster
7.5

Joe is scheduled for the big fight as usual. This one has more fight sequences than plot.

Joe Palooka in Winner Take All

1948

Crashout poster
6.7

Convict Van Duff engineers a large-scale prison break; the six survivors hide out in a forgotten mine working near the prison, then set out on a long, dangerous journey by foot, car, train and truck to retrieve Duff's bank loot. En route, as they touch the lives of "regular folks," each has his own rendezvous with destiny.

Crashout

1955

Crashout poster
6.7

Convict Van Duff engineers a large-scale prison break; the six survivors hide out in a forgotten mine working near the prison, then set out on a long, dangerous journey by foot, car, train and truck to retrieve Duff's bank loot. En route, as they touch the lives of "regular folks," each has his own rendezvous with destiny.

Crashout

1955

The Bold and the Brave poster
6.2

An assortment of American types come together in the Italian campaign of 1944.

The Bold and the Brave

1956

The Weapon poster
6.1

A boy accidentally shoots a friend with a gun he found in the rubble of a destroyed building. The gun turns out to be a clue in a ten-year-old murder case.

The Weapon

1956

Smart Woman poster
5.5

A crusading DA falls for a defense attorney with a criminal past.

Smart Woman

1948

Joe Palooka, Champ poster
8.0

After losing heavyweight contender Al Costa to mob boss Florini fight promoter Knobby Walsh recruits small town boy Joe Palooka to take his place. First in the series.

Joe Palooka, Champ

1946

Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey poster
5.3

Newlyweds Joe and Anne Palooka are delayed in their honeymoon plans by the helpful Humphrey Pennyworth and by considerably-less-helpful manager, Knobby Walsh.

Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey

1950

Joe Palooka in the Squared Circle poster
8.0

Joe Palooka encounters gangsters and tries to alert the law.

Joe Palooka in the Squared Circle

1950

Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance poster
7.0

A crooked boxing promoter tries to shake down Joe's manager by setting up a rigged fight in Humphrey Pennyworth's hometown.

Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance

1950

Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad poster
8.0

Joe Palooka goes blind during a fight. An operation restores his vision, but he's told not to fight for a year. His trainer Knobby has picked up another fighter, but gangsters are pressing him to fix fights. Joe decides to risk his eyesight to save Knobby's honor.

Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad

1948

Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch poster
9.0

Joe heads for South America to fight the Latin champ. Shipboard, he helps federal agents fight counterfeiters. He also spars with love interest Anne Howe.

Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch

1949