
Acting
Colin Tapley
Born — Died
1907-05-07 — 1995-12-01
Place of birth
Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand
Known for
Acting
Credits
56 titles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Colin Tapley (7 May 1907 – 1 December 1995) was a British actor. Born in New Zealand, he served in the Royal Air Force and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictures talent contest and moving to Hollywood. He acted in several films before returning to Britain during the Second World War as a flight controller with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He returned briefly to New Zealand before returning once again to Britain to renew his acting career. His most famous role is as William Glanville in The Dam Busters but he spent much of his later career typecast as a police inspector, a role he played in several films and TV series before re…
Known for
9.0A kid-friendly take on the exploits of King Richard the Lion Heart, from his participation in the Crusades, to his capture in Austria, to his final return to England.
Richard the Lionheart
1962
7.0The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network. The series starred William Russell as the eponymous Sir Lancelot, a Knight of the Round Table in the time of King Arthur at Camelot.
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
1956
6.6When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regret.
Samson and Delilah
1949
6.5In a 16th-century European town, the ruling family has been given a prophecy that, should there ever be twin boys born, the younger will murder the older; so is dismayed when twins are born to the popular baron. The older grows to be a selfish, slovenly man, who inherits the castle at his father's death and becomes ruler over the formerly happy villagers. He enjoys his power until he learns his younger brother is returning from abroad and, afraid of the prophecy, he determines to murder his sibling, hide his body in the "black room" - an old torture chamber sealed away behind the fireplace - and then impersonate him, right down to his withered arm. In this way he hopes to not only avoid the prophecy, but also escape consequences of his other criminal deeds and obtain marriage to a local girl of the nobility...
The Black Room
1935
6.5Michael 'Nuggin' Taylor and Powdah save lives during a sea tragedy in this story about the slave trade on the high seas during 1842.
Souls at Sea
1937
5.7In early 19th century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society. The first feature length film to use three-strip Technicolor.
Becky Sharp
1935
Film credits
1960s · 8 titles
6.6During a bank robbery, the manager and a cashier are locked in the strongroom, while the crooks escape. Later, when the gang realise that their plan to release the pair has gone wrong, they return to the bank to try and release them before the police turn up.
Strongroom
1962
6.7In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family--Paddy, Ida, and their teenage son Sean--are sheep drovers, always on the move. Ida and Sean want to settle down and buy a farm. Paddy wants to keep moving. A sheep-shearing contest, the birth of a child, drinking, gambling, and a racehorse will all have a part in the final decision.
The Sundowners
1960
4.7A young girl is framed for a robbery and sent to a harsh reform school, where she becomes the target of a vicious warden.
So Evil, So Young
1961
6.0When a little girl is knocked down it is discovered that there are only three donors of the right blood type to help with a life-saving operation. One is a murderer awaiting execution, one an atomic scientist selling secrets, and one an international footballer about to get his hundreth cap.
Emergency
1962
To beautify his street and trim city spending, stuffy councilman Jack (Francis Matthews) pushes to have the last gas lamp in town removed. But this angers his neighbors Albert (Ian Fleming) and Victoria (Amy Dalby), an inconspicuous pair of serial killers who choose Jack as their next victim. This dark comedy also stars Lisa Daniely as Mary, a local advocate who fights tooth and nail against Jack's modernization efforts.
The Lamp in Assassin Mews
1962
A modern boardroom take on Julius Caesar.
An Honourable Murder
1960
6.0An ex-convict who's built a respectable post-prison life for himself as an engineer discovers that a past is a hard thing to shake. When old "friends" contact the former prisoner, it's not long before the gone-straight baddie finds himself being blackmailed into taking part in a major jewelry theft.
Compelled
1960
During the early 1960s, a Chicago mobster and a Londoner try to get involved in a jukebox racket.
Gang War
1962
1950s · 16 titles
6.9The story of the conception of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex and the execution of the raid by 617 Squadron 'The Dam Busters'.
The Dam Busters
1955
6.7The daughter of a textile company owner falls in love with a young illustrator with a secret criminal past.
Innocent Meeting
1959
6.1The year is 1940 and Pilot Officer T.B. Baird arrives straight out of flight school to join a front line RAF squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain. After an unfortunate start and a drumming down from his commanding officer, Baird must balance the struggle to impress his Group Captain, regain his pride, fit in with his fellow pilots, and survive one of the most intense air battles in history.
Angels One Five
1952
6.2An adventurer investigates the theft of a formula for hardened steel, assisted by his girlfriend.
The Steel Key
1953
5.1Special investigator Duke Martin is in London to investigate the authenticity of a rare postage stamp called the Barbados Overplate. Someone is willing to commit murder to get his or her hands on the stamp, which puts a crimp in Duke's efforts to romance every beautiful woman he meets.
Barbados Quest
1955
6.7A U.S. sailor docks in London and in three days tries to save his brother from the gallows.
3 Steps to the Gallows
1953
6.9Picking a pocket leads to blackmail and murder for a petty criminal in London.
Wide Boy
1952
6.0Safe cracker, Colley Dawson, is recruited to steal a list of Nazi agents from a safe in a Nazi occupied chateau in Belgium.
The Safecracker
1958
7.0Soon after celebrating his engagement to aristocratic heiress Kathy Riddle (Carol Marsh), engineer Bob Jensen (Ronald Howard) is accused by an insurance investigator of being a notorious -- and murderous -- jewel thief. Can Bob restore his reputation and regain Kathy's trust? Desperate to prove his innocence, Bob engineers a daring jailbreak and pursues the real culprit. Montgomery Tully directs this crime drama.
Man Accused
1959
6.0A woman has been sentenced to death by hanging. Her cousin believes she is innocent and he works against time to prove it before she is executed.
Noose for a Lady
1953
5.9While in London trying to nab several fugitives who stole a million dollars from a U.S. Treasury vault, American federal agent Dennison (Dennis O'Keefe) assists Scotland Yard Insp. McClaren (Philip Friend) in his search for a missing atomic scientist (Paul Hardtmuth). The detective duo discovers that the key to solving both cases may rest with the scientist's daughter (Margaret Sheridan) and her fascinating diamond.
The Diamond Wizard
1954
6.4Canadian 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
5.7A former pilot suffering from blackouts discovers that a fellow flyer is suspected of being mixed up with a web of smugglers. While searching for his missing buddy, he unwittingly becomes entangled in a morass of suspicion.
Wings of Danger
1952
A young man searches for the father he never knew, who he believes to be a millionaire.
Son of a Stranger
1958
6.9A vacationing journalist investigates the mysterious death of a composer and debunks the theory that it was suicide.
Stranger in Town
1957
NR'Strange Stories' consists of two stories, 'The Strange Mr Bartleby' and 'The Strange Journey'. The stories were sometimes shown individually on television.
Strange Stories
1953
1940s · 3 titles
6.6When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regret.
Samson and Delilah
1949
6.4Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers ("Isn't that a contradiction in terms?", another character asks him) travels to Canada in the 1880s in search of Jacques Corbeau, who is wanted for murder. He wanders into the midst of the Riel Rebellion, in which Métis (people of French and Native heritage) and Natives want a separate nation. Dusty falls for nurse April Logan, who is also loved by Mountie Jim Brett. April's brother is involved with Courbeau's daughter Louvette, which leads to trouble during the battles between the rebels and the Mounties. Through it all Dusty is determined to bring Corbeau back to Texas (and April, too, if he can manage it.)
North West Mounted Police
1940
6.5Phoebe Titus is a tough, swaggering pioneer woman, but her ways become decidedly more feminine when she falls for California bound Peter Muncie. But Peter won't be distracted from his journey and Phoebe is left alone and plenty busy with villains Jefferson Carteret and Lazarus Ward plotting at every turn to destroy her freighting company. She has not seen the last of Peter, however.
Arizona
1940
1930s · 25 titles
6.5In a 16th-century European town, the ruling family has been given a prophecy that, should there ever be twin boys born, the younger will murder the older; so is dismayed when twins are born to the popular baron. The older grows to be a selfish, slovenly man, who inherits the castle at his father's death and becomes ruler over the formerly happy villagers. He enjoys his power until he learns his younger brother is returning from abroad and, afraid of the prophecy, he determines to murder his sibling, hide his body in the "black room" - an old torture chamber sealed away behind the fireplace - and then impersonate him, right down to his withered arm. In this way he hopes to not only avoid the prophecy, but also escape consequences of his other criminal deeds and obtain marriage to a local girl of the nobility...
The Black Room
1935
6.5Michael 'Nuggin' Taylor and Powdah save lives during a sea tragedy in this story about the slave trade on the high seas during 1842.
Souls at Sea
1937
5.7In early 19th century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society. The first feature length film to use three-strip Technicolor.
Becky Sharp
1935
7.1King Louis XI masquerades as a commoner in Paris, seeking out the treachery he is sure lurks in his kingdom. At a local tavern, he overhears the brash poet François Villon extolling why he would be a better king. Annoyed yet intrigued, the King bestows on Villon the title of Grand Constable. Soon Villon begins work and falls for a lovely lady-in-waiting, but then must flee execution when the King turns on him.
If I Were King
1938
6.6In the Northwest Frontier of India, the 41st Bengal Lancers led by the harsh Colonel Tom Stone are having trouble with the rebellious leader Mohammed Khan. Surly McGregor and wry, blue-blooded Forsythe are officers in charge of newcomer Lieutenant Stone, the commanding officer’s inexperienced son. Motivated by a grudge toward his father, Lt. Stone allows himself to be captured by the enemy.
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
1935
7.0When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Peter Ibbetson
1935
6.2During WW1, the destinies of British officers Michael Andrews and John Stevenson seem intertwined on the battle front as much as on a more personal level.
The Last Outpost
1935
5.7Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander. Stage manager Jack Ellery calls in his friend, policeman Bill Murdock, to help him investigate. Bill thinks Jack is offering to let him see the show from an unusual viewpoint after he forgot to get him tickets for the performance, but then they find the corpse of a murdered woman and Bill immediately suspects Eric of the crime.
Murder at the Vanities
1934
6.7When gangster's bullets put an end to the career of H.J. Barton, underworld gambling czar who masquerades as a respectable member of high society, his daughter Carol is left to bear the brunt of social stigma.
My Marriage
1936
5.8A London artist struggles to complete one last painting before going blind.
The Light That Failed
1939
7.5Working for a slick restaurateur who has fallen for her, a down-on-life songstress falls instead for a crusading crime reporter, unaware that her employer is the secret head of the city's major gambling machine racket and has a penchant for murdering anyone who gets in his way.
King of Gamblers
1937
6.1Drummond manages to save a woman from jumping in front of his car but she runs away with his car. He traces her and she asks him to help her out of a dangerous situation.
Bulldog Drummond Escapes
1937
6.4Jeeves tries to keep his young master out of trouble.
Thank You, Jeeves!
1936
6.2When a young woman named Barbara Clarke has an affair with adventurer Roger Coverman, it causes a scandal in the Puritanical town of Salem, Massachusetts. After a meddling girl arouses their suspicions, the town's elders accuse Barbara of being a witch. She is tried, convicted of sorcery and sentenced to death. As the townspeople prepare to burn Barbara at the stake, Roger tries desperately to save the woman he loves.
Maid of Salem
1937
6.5After notorious jewel thief Flambeau meets Evelyn Fischer during a raid on a casino, he falls deeply in love with her. Later Flambeau sends notes to both Leopold Fischer, who unknown to him is Evelyn's uncle, and Father Brown, in which he vows he will steal from them the ten diamonds that comprise the "Flying Star." Flambeau intends to give these diamonds to Evelyn. Father Brown, whose gold cross contains some of the Flying Star diamonds, is determined to meet Flambeau before he is arrested, to reform and redeem his soul.
Father Brown, Detective
1934
8.0Chester Beatty and Tessie Weeks have been engaged for 5 years and going together for 15 years before that. Chester is reluctant to burden Tessie with marriage because of his secret problem. He is a sleepwalker. When Tessie finally does rope Chester into marriage, he can't get time off from his boss of 26 years, Mr. Frisbee. To resolve the problem, Chester sets out to impress his boss by securing a big sales contract of glass eyes. He takes Tessie and follows the rich doll company owner Horace B. Stanton to a lakeside resort and befriends him. However, his sleep-walking makes him a prime suspect in a thievery/murder case.
Early to Bed
1936
6.0This being a Republic picture, it should come as no surprise that Storm Over Bengal was filmed in its entirety in the San Fernando Valley. Within its concise 65 minutes, the film manages to accommodate a Bengal Lancers main plot, a romantic subplot, the obligatory coward who makes good, intrigue aplenty from a villainous Indian potentate, and an outsized climactic battle between the rebels and the British forces. Patric Knowles, previously one of the leads in the British-India epic Charge of the Light Brigade, heads the cast. Worth noting is the presence in the cast of Richard Cromwell as secondary romantic lead Neil Allison and Douglass Dumbrille as the despicable Khan. Three years earlier, Cromwell had been tortured by Dumbrille's minions in Lives of a Bengal Lancer, and he undergoes much the same treatment here-"just to make him feel at home" observed film historian Roger Dooley.
Storm Over Bengal
1938
10.0Philo Vance investigates a series of murders among members of the wealthy Greene family.
Night of Mystery
1937
6.8In order to give up her life of crime and go straight, renowned jewel thief Sophie Lang fakes her own death and retires to London. She soon finds a job as a companion to a wealthy old lady who is also a jewel collector. One day her employer decides to take an ocean trip to the US, taking Sophie with her. She also takes along a $200,000 diamond, which she locks up in the ship's safe. Of course, the diamond is soon stolen from the safe. A reporter also happens to be aboard the ship, and he has had his suspicions about who Sophie really is. Sophie has to find the real thief and recover the jewel before the ship docks in New York, because an investigation could reveal her true identity.
The Return of Sophie Lang
1936
5.5Three playwrights develop a plot around a drunk who gets killed in their apartment.
The Crime Nobody Saw
1937
5.8Someone is murdering the cast and crew of a new Hollywood movie, and the leading lady may be next. As a police detective locks down the lot and refuses to let anyone leave, the studio’s publicity head and his secretary attempt to solve the murders themselves.
The Preview Murder Mystery
1936
6.9In 1910 Manhattan, Victoria Van Brett, a bitter spinster heiress lives an isolated life with her sister Caroline. Her domineering urges go into overdrive when their half-brother Rip brings a new bride home to the family’s gloomy Fifth Avenue mansion, built by their late industrialist father. The title refers to a secret soundproofed chamber that the villainess uses to entrap her enemies.
Double Door
1934
5.1A wagon train heads west from Independence, Mo., along the Oregon Trail, led by proud cowboy Clint Belmet. On board are feisty young widow Nancy Wellington and her toddler, Sonny, as well as the older Abby Masters, who begins a romance with scout Jim Burch. Along the way, the wagon train battles Indians led by Kenneth Murdock, a trapper who doesn't welcome competition for Oregon's lucrative fur trade. Wagon Wheels is a 1934 remake of 1931's Fighting Caravans, using stock footage from the original.
Wagon Wheels
1934
Boys are sent to military school in order to get them out of the way of their too-busy-to-bother parents or guardians. Lonely young Philip Stewart writes himself letters his father should be writing. When his hoax is discovered, Philip attempts suicide.
Too Many Parents
1936
White hunters in a Malayan jungle stalk a white tiger and bait their trap with a native girl. Captain Rogers to the rescue but falls for the Colonel's daughter.
Booloo
1938
Series credits
9.0A kid-friendly take on the exploits of King Richard the Lion Heart, from his participation in the Crusades, to his capture in Austria, to his final return to England.
Richard the Lionheart
1962
9.0A kid-friendly take on the exploits of King Richard the Lion Heart, from his participation in the Crusades, to his capture in Austria, to his final return to England.
Richard the Lionheart
1962
7.0The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network. The series starred William Russell as the eponymous Sir Lancelot, a Knight of the Round Table in the time of King Arthur at Camelot.
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
1956
7.0The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network. The series starred William Russell as the eponymous Sir Lancelot, a Knight of the Round Table in the time of King Arthur at Camelot.
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
1956
