
Acting
Ralph Truman
Born — Died
1900-05-07 — 1977-10-15
Place of birth
London, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
64 titles
Veteran British character player Ralph Truman was a pioneer radio actor and appeared in over 5000 broadcasts during his career. Born in London at the turn of the century, his overall film career was commendable but less enviable than his voice work on the airwaves. Originally from the stage, he had just finished a run of "Josef Suss" in 1930 when he moved directly into films, making his unbilled debut in the early talkie Farewell to Love (1931). Throughout the 1930s he would be found steadily in "B" films including The Bells (1931), That's My Uncle (1935), The Lad (1935), Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935), Under the Red Robe (1937) and Dinner at the Ritz (1937). In the 1940s the distinctively ba…
Known for
7.3Danger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.
Danger Man
1960
7.5An anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971
7.9In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.
Ben-Hur
1959
8.2The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds.
The Main Chance
1969
5.0Churchill's People is a British anthology series based on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill's four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies. 26 episodes were produced by the BBC and initially broadcast from 30 December 1974 to 23 June 1975.
Churchill's People
1974
6.5Enchanted by the idea of locating treasure buried by Captain Flint, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage to a Caribbean island. Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver.
Treasure Island
1950
Film credits
1970s · 2 titles
7.0Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.
Nicholas and Alexandra
1971
5.9Lady Caroline Lamb, dissatisfied in her marriage, has an affair with the dashing Romantic poet Lord Byron.
Lady Caroline Lamb
1972
1960s · 3 titles
6.7Ari Ben Canaan, a passionate member of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, attempts to transport 600 Jewish refugees on a dangerous voyage from Cyprus to Palestine on a ship named the Exodus. He faces obstruction from British forces, who will not grant the ship passage to its destination.
Exodus
1960
6.8Epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz ("El Cid" to his followers), who, without compromising his strict sense of honour, still succeeds in taking the initiative and driving the Moors from Spain.
El Cid
1961
5.7"Under Ten Flags" is a WWII movie loosely based on the true story of the German navy commerce raider Atlantis, a converted Auxilliary Cruiser, and her Captain Bernhard Rogge. Atlantis, camouflaged as a merchant ship, cruised the South Seas ( Atlantic, Indian & Pacific) and sank or captured 22 merchant ships from May 1940 through November 22, 1941 when she was sunk by the British Cruiser HMS Devonshire. Rogge was one of the few German officers of flag rank who were not arrested by the Allies after the war ended. This was due to the very proper and ethical way he exercised his command of Atlantis. After the war he advanced to Rear Admiral in the West German Navy and became a high-ranking NATO commander.
Under Ten Flags
1960
1950s · 19 titles
7.9In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.
Ben-Hur
1959
6.5Enchanted by the idea of locating treasure buried by Captain Flint, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage to a Caribbean island. Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver.
Treasure Island
1950
7.4An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956
7.1After fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.
Quo Vadis
1951
6.5Captain George Bryan Brummell is a British soldier who appreciates fine clothing and innovative dress. Although he initially alienates the Prince of Wales with insulting comments about the prince's uniform designs, he eventually becomes his close confidant. Brummel also falls in love with the beautiful Lady Patricia Belham. However, his outspoken manner eventually leads to his being exiled to France.
Beau Brummell
1954
6.9Scotland Yard detectives attempt to solve a spate of safe robberies across England beginning with clues found at the latest burglary in London. The film is notable for using a police procedural style made popular by Ealing in their 1950 film The Blue Lamp. It is known in the US as The Third Key.
The Long Arm
1956
7.3While sailing lawfully up the Yangste in 1949, the British warship Amethyst found its return to the open sea blocked by Communist Chinese shore batteries that unexpectedly opened fire. In charge, Lietenant Commander Kerans was not however prepared for his crew and his ship to remain as a hostage for the Chinese to use as an international pawn.
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
1957
7.1A viceroy, a nobleman and a bullfighter court a comedy-troupe actress in 18th-century Peru.
The Golden Coach
1952
5.9Scottish highlander Jamie Durie falls into a life of piracy after joining the failed rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie against the British crown.
The Master of Ballantrae
1953
6.9British Air Marshal Hardie is attending a party in Hong Kong when he hears of a dream, told by a pilot, in which Hardie's flight to Tokyo on a small Dakota propeller plane crashes on a Japanese beach. Hardie dismisses the dream as pure fantasy, but while he is flying to Tokyo the next day, circumstances start changing to align with the pilot's vivid vision, and it looks like the dream disaster may become a reality.
The Night My Number Came Up
1955
7.3After World War II the crew of a motor gunboat join together to buy their old vessel and go into business for themselves. This may sound like a laudable scheme, but the business they choose to go into is smuggling.
The Ship That Died of Shame
1955
5.0A ruthless woman takes advantage of gullible men to climb up the social ladder.
Wicked as They Come
1956
6.4During the British retreat through Libya, a British officer takes shelter with a group of Arab Bedouin. He marries the chief's daughter. Sometime later, his younger brother, who had believed him to be dead, is informed that he may be alive in Libya - prompting him to set out and search for him.
The Black Tent
1956
6.3Malta, 1942, during World War II. While the German air force is relentlessly bombing the island, a British pilot falls in love with a young Maltese girl.
Malta Story
1953
4.7A World War II evacuee returns years later to England and finds his father in prison framed for murder.
Web of Evidence
1959
5.7A convicted murderer uses an ancient curse to take his revenge on those responsible for sending him to prison.
The Spaniard's Curse
1958
7.0The story revolves around the Dinky Doos, a provincial musical troupe living from hand to mouth.
The Good Companions
1957
5.5An apartment handyman is unusually attached to a pair of boilers he names "Mavis" and "Ethel."
Tons of Trouble
1956
A young governess becomes embroiled in French spy intrigue, in this adaptation of a Georgette Heyer novel.
The Reluctant Widow
1950
1940s · 16 titles
7.6When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.
Oliver Twist
1948
6.7In 1415, in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France.
Henry V
1944
5.8Christopher Columbus overcomes intrigue at the Spanish court and convinces Queen Isabella that his plan to reach the East by sailing west is practical.
Christopher Columbus
1949
6.0In 1854, Australian gold rush miners struggle for their rights against an oppressive government.
Eureka Stockade
1949
6.3Rodney Playfair is persuaded, by a promise to meet his gambling debts, to impersonate a manservant named Chapman at his fiancée's house...
The Butler's Dilemma
1943
5.3Dusty Bates observes some smuggled jewels hidden in a crate aboard a ship; he is pursued by low-lifes when the crate is put ashore.
The Adventures of Dusty Bates
1947
7.6A handsome young master at a boys school incurs the jealousy of an embittered colleague. From the novel by Hugh Walpole.
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill
1948
6.8A man goes on the run from hardened smugglers.
The Man Within
1947
6.7A paraplegic baroness mistakes a man's pity for love - and tragedy ensues.
Beware of Pity
1946
7.5A musical set during the French Revolution.
The Laughing Lady
1946
6.5The captain of a British cargo ship shanghais a group of sabateurs, unaware that the daughter of the ship’s owner is among them.
Sabotage at Sea
1942
An account of the technique of reading the tabloid press in an intelligent manor via differing editorial techniques that leads to three styles of newspapers giving varying accounts of a strip-tease act.
Read All About It
1945
5.8When John North, a budding author, pulls the communication cord of a late night train that is taking him away on a weekend with his publishers wife, he sets in motion a series of events that lead to a train crash, a murder and a police man hunt, but all is not what it seems.
The Interrupted Journey
1949
6.7The tangled affairs of George, Prince of Wales, leading to his illegal marriage to commoner Mrs. Fitzherbert. Also portrayed is the conflict between the future George IV and his father George III.
Mrs. Fitzherbert
1947
6.3During the Second World War, a German spy goes on the run, carrying important news about a U-Boat campaign. The ship he is traveling aboard is hit by a torpedo. The spy winds up on a lifeboat with other survivors, one of whom is a counterintelligence agent who reveals the German spy's true identity.
The Seventh Survivor
1942
6.2A musical cabaret singer meets a British agent and goes with him to Nazi occupied France to save an atomic scientist.
Lisbon Story
1946
1930s · 20 titles
6.2In 1588, relations between Spain and England are at the breaking point. With the support of Queen Elizabeth I, British sea raiders such as Sir Francis Drake regularly capture Spanish merchantmen, bringing gold from the New World.
Fire Over England
1937
5.6Based on the novel by Edgar Wallace, detectives at Scotland Yard try and track down The Crimson Circle, a secret society of blackmailers
The Crimson Circle
1936
5.8Suave soldier of fortune Simon Templer gets mixed up with a gang of counterfeiters who've murdered and robbed an European count of 1,000,000 pounds. He is aided reluctantly by Scotland Yard inspector Teal, who's convinced that Templar himself pulled off the heist, and less reluctantly by light-fingered Dugan and dizzy socialite Penny Parker.
The Saint in London
1939
5.8The daughter of a murdered financier works as a jewelry salesperson while she tracks her father's colleagues who plotted against him.
Dinner at the Ritz
1937
6.1Set in the India of the British Raj, the evil and untrustworthy Prince Guhl (Raymond Massey) plans to wipe out the British troops as they enjoy the hospitality of Guhl's spacious palace. It's up to the loyal young Prince Azim (Sabu) to warn the troops of Guhl's treachery by tapping out a message on his drum.
The Drum
1938
6.6Winifred Holtby realised that Local Government is not a dry affair of meetings and memoranda:- but 'the front-line defence thrown up by humanity against its common enemies of sickness, poverty and ignorance.' She built her story around six people working for a typical County Council:- Beneath the lives of the public servants runs the thread of their personal drama. Our story tells how a public life affects the private life; and how a man's personal sufferings make him what he is in public. " Corruption, intrigue and romance in a Yorkshire setting. A country squire whose wife is in a mental hospital becomes attracted to a crusading local schoolmistress.
South Riding
1938
NRThe Life of St. Paul, including reenactment of the Book of Acts, and St. Paul's Epistles.
Life of St. Paul
1938
The film hinges on the love triangle between a young aristocratic lady on the run (Cleonie, played by Hazel Terry), the murderous Varennes, Citizen-Deputy of the Revolution who saves her by disguising her as his nephew (Nils Asther) and finally the Marquis of Corbal of the film's title, played by Hugh Sinclair.
The Marriage of Corbal
1936
7.1Old Mr. Cohen (Paul Graetz) simply walks away from his London department store, leaving his sons to run it.
Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk
1935
6.3During an early, unsuccessful attempt at climbing the Matterhorn, Edward Whymper finds himself rescued by an italian guide, Jean Antoine Carrel. The two men quickly build a friendship and agree to reach the peak together. However, local villagers ploto to divide the alliance of Whymper and Carrel and both men join rival teams as they set out in a race to conquer the mountain. A mountaineering drama based on the novel by Carl Haensel and inspired in the dramatic true story of Edward Whymper, who led the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. There is another version of the film titled Der Berg Ruft, shot the same year in German.
The Challenge
1938
5.9A group of people in an old dark house are terrorized by a mysterious hooded figure dressed in black who proceeds to kill them off one by one.
The Shadow
1933
An unstable Victorian doctor murders a woman.
The Case of Gabriel Perry
1935
Aristocrat Lord Dawlish is told by his girlfriend's father that he must find a job if he wishes to continue seeing her. He finds employment as a dancing partner at a dance club and prospers in his new role, despite facing a jealous rival.
Partners Please
1932
A king goes on strike and takes a holiday. A double is found to impersonate him who brings disgrace to the throne.
Change for a Sovereign
1937
5.8A forger returns to his family when he leaves jail vowing to go straight. Although approached by an international counterfeiting gang he keeps his word only to find his nephew is in the Swiss Alps helping the crooks. He sets off to try and put a stop to things, but with Scotland Yard also hot-footing it to the resort his problems are just beginning. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Dusty Ermine
1936
8.0Mathias, an Alsatian innkeeper, murders a rich Pole staying at his inn. However, Mathias' conscience will not let him rest, and the murdered man's spirit drives the innkeeper nearly mad. The victim's brother calls for an inquest and brings with him a sideshow hypnotist, who is supposedly able to read minds. Mathias, as burgomaster, is called upon to conduct the inquest, but under the intuitive eye of the hypnotist cannot resist torment of his own conscience.
The Bells
1931
6.7A German-born woman works as a spy for the French in Switzerland during the First World War, and has to marry an interned French lieutenant in order to be able to stay in the country.
Secret Lives
1937
6.0A controversial osteopath sets out to cure the daughter of a famous surgeon - and falls in love with her in the process.
The Outsider
1939
6.2Ivan Petrov has one weakness in his life, and one love: his little black-eyed daughter, Tania. In fact, his entire career is devoted to her future happiness, though Tania remains ignorant as to his vocation. Done with cool deliberation, Petrov's all-consuming fear is that one day his lovely daughter will discover his true profession, and despise him for it...
Black Eyes
1939
A clerk is planning to murder a stockbroker but is foiled in the attempt.
The Perfect Flaw
1934
Series credits
7.3Danger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.
Danger Man
1960
7.5An anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971
8.2The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds.
The Main Chance
1969
5.0Churchill's People is a British anthology series based on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill's four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies. 26 episodes were produced by the BBC and initially broadcast from 30 December 1974 to 23 June 1975.
Churchill's People
1974
