
Writing
Angus MacPhail
Born — Died
1903-04-08 — 1962-04-22
Place of birth
London, England
Known for
Writing
Credits
40 titles
Known for
7.1In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
The Wrong Man
1956
7.2An 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
7.4When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.
Spellbound
1945
6.8A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and win the heart of his antagonist's sister.
A Yank at Oxford
1938
6.8Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
Whisky Galore!
1949
7.1The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.
Went the Day Well?
1942
Behind the camera
7.1In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
The Wrong Man
1956
7.2An 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
7.4When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.
Spellbound
1945
6.8A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and win the heart of his antagonist's sister.
A Yank at Oxford
1938
6.8Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
Whisky Galore!
1949
7.1The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.
Went the Day Well?
1942
5.6An RAF pilot who was shot down during WWII returns home to his English village with his new bride. The trouble is that she is the German lady who helped him escape.
Frieda
1947
6.6During a rainy Sunday afternoon, an escaped prisoner tries to hide out at the home of his ex-fiance.
It Always Rains on Sunday
1947
8.0Racehorse owner Anson is swindled by a woman named Wenda and goes up in front of the Jockey Club where he is disqualified on race fixing allegations. He decides to get his own back with the help of Hillcott, an ex-burglar. Jill is the love interest
The Calendar
1931
6.5A group of travellers, each with a personal problem that they want to hide, arrive at a mysterious Welsh country inn. There is a certain strangeness in the air as they are greeted by the innkeeper and his daughter. Why are all the newspapers a year old? And why doesn't Gwyneth seem to cast a shadow?
The Halfway House
1944
6.8Will Hay, back in his role as a hapless teacher, is hired by a grim school in remotest Scotland. The school soon starts to be haunted by a legendary ghost, whose spectral bagpipes signal the death of one of the staff. Hay, assisted by Claude Hulbert and Charles Hawtrey, has to unravel the mystery before he becomes the next victim.
The Ghost of St. Michael's
1941
6.4A 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
7.0Algernon Sprigg, a horse-racing fanatic, is convinced that everyone is a gambler at heart. To prove his theory, he bets a friend that he can convert Amos Purdie, the puritanical head of an anti-betting association, into a punter within a week.
The Sport of Kings
1931
5.0Lots 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
5.3Backstage before a performance, a French actor recalls his time in Madagascar during World War II, when he secretly ran a Resistance radio station under the watch of a collaborationist police chief. His story unfolds in flashback, revealing espionage, deception, and divided loyalties within the French ranks. Made for Britain’s Ministry of Information, this 1944 French-language propaganda short satirizes Vichy opportunism and wartime hypocrisy, and was shelved for decades before its release in 1993.
Aventure Malgache
1944
6.7The 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
6.2Shortly after the start of World War II, a ukelele player (George) takes the wrong boat and finds himself in (still uninvaded) Norway. He is mistaken for a fellow British intelligence agent by a woman (Mary), and becomes involved in trying to defeat Nazi agents.
Let George Do It!
1940
7.0A bookmaker with a fancy for detective work attempts to prevent the execution of a potentially innocent man.
Saloon Bar
1940
7.0A young composer goes blind, and shortly afterward enters his most recent work in a competition. He believes he's won, but doesn't know that his wife couldn't bear to tell him that he didn't. Complications ensue.
Symphony in Two Flats
1930
5.6After escaping a Nazi POW camp, a young Scottish RAF gunner recounts his perilous journey through occupied France with the help of the Resistance. During his debriefing in London, French intelligence officers press him for details—especially about one companion whose true loyalties may not be what they seemed.
Bon Voyage
1944
6.6Schoolteacher William Potts is the double of a captured German spy, so he is sent to Germany by British Intelligence to obtain the plans of a new secret weapon, causing chaos in a Hitler Youth school in the process.
The Goose Steps Out
1942
6.6Based on the true story of Melbourne Johns, an aircraft factory foreman sent to France to prevent the Nazis getting hold of some vital equipment.
The Foreman Went to France
1942
7.6Three sailors get drunk while on shore leave and end up on the wrong ship. When they realise their mistake they scramble off it and onto their warship, HMS Ferocious. However, they soon realise that the vessel they have boarded is not the Ferocious but a German battleship.
Sailors Three
1940
6.7Robert Maine is torn between returning to the glamour of Hollywood and working with a small theatre company in England.
Return to Yesterday
1940
8.4Two British soldiers and a WREN take refuge at Stonehenge during a thunderstorm, they are struck by lightning and transported back to ancient Rome.
Fiddlers Three
1944
6.0A young couple live under a café in Paris that, unknown to them, is owned by a brutal blackmailer. When he is murdered, they fall under suspicion. However, the husband's father, an amateur detective, believes in their innocence and sets out to find who really killed the blackmailer.
A Night in Montmartre
1931
8.2A professor teaching at a correspondence school discovers that a Nazi agent is trying to prevent a trade treaty being signed between England and South America.
The Black Sheep of Whitehall
1942
8.0A British drama film directed by Denison Clift
The City of Play
1929
6.9Ealing comedy starring music hall star George Formby. An eager newspaper reporter (Formby) goes undercover to expose a gang of counterfeiters. Posing as a wrestler and waiter in his investigative efforts, George proves a greater menace to public order than the criminals he is chasing.
Trouble Brewing
1939
6.3A train disaster is told in four short stories to give character studies of the people involved, how it will affect them and how they deal with it.
Train of Events
1949
9.0A young woman goes to stay at the house of Lord Lebanon, but two murders in quick succession lead to the arrival of detectives and cause the woman to fear for her life.
The Frightened Lady
1932
6.4Film musical taken from JB Priestley's novel about three musicians joining together to save a failing concert party, the Dinky Doos.
The Good Companions
1933
Futuristic story about a slow moving cricket match that begins in 1940 (ten years beyond the year when the film was produced) and finally finishes in 2000.
Ashes
1930
10.0A British musical comedy film directed by Wilhelm Thiele
Marry Me
1932
'Shipwrecked valet saves affianced master from native girl.' (British Film Catalogue)
Aroma of the South Seas
1931
6.3A criminal organizes train crashes to discredit the railway in favor of a rival bus company. The stunts in this film were groundbreaking for 1920s British cinema. A scene which has been described as "the most spectacular rail crash in cinema history" was recorded by 22 cameras.
The Wrecker
1929
6.2An insane murderer is on the loose, and gunning for the men who put him away. William Fitch is on the list, and co-opts his buddy Claude Babbington to try and prevent a grisly end.
My Learned Friend
1943
6.0A department store assistant becomes publicity conscious.
Love on Wheels
1932
6.0When Lord Peter Wimsey marries Harriet Vane, a crime author, they both promise to give up crime for good. As a wedding present, Peter purchases the old house where Harriet grew up, but when they try to move in the previous owner is nowhere to be found, until they start to clean the house and find his body in the cellar...
Busman's Honeymoon
1940
6.6The rich, amoral Zelie is married to Pierre Boucheron, "The Rat" - but her interest in another man is an open secret. Forced to defend his honour, the Rat takes refuge in his old domain of the Paris underworld. But even here he has a rival - and when murder is afoot, the sinister Morel's ambition threatens to cost the Rat dear....
The Return of the Rat
1929
