Kate Plus Ten (also known as Queen of Crime) is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Reginald Denham and starring Jack Hulbert, Genevieve Tobin and Noel Madison.[1][2] It was written by Jeffrey Dell and Jack Hulbert adapted from the 1917 Edgar Wallace novel Kate Plus Ten.

Plot summary

Kate Westhanger, the leader of a gang of criminals, works as secretary to an aristocrat allowing her to pick up vital information. However, the police soon become suspicious of her and Scotland Yard's Inspector Pemberton is sent on her trail.

Cast

Production

The film was an independent production shot at Shepperton Studios.[3]

The final third of the film makes extensive use of railway locations. Among these, the main line between Bath and Westbury (Wiltshire) was employed, with a stolen train smashing through fake level crossing gates at Freshford station.[citation needed] The branch line through Limpley Stoke and Camerton was also featured, and a closed colliery in the Somerset coalfield was the location for the scene in which a steam locomotive crashes through wooden shed doors.[4]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A good thriller in a light vein."[5]

Britmovie called it a "light-hearted comedy-thriller," adding, "like so many Wallace stories logic takes a back seat, but the speeding train sequence generates some lively thrills, and Hulbert and Tobin craft a likeable onscreen chemistry. Tobin is wickedly delightful as Kate, and Hulbert, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeffrey Dell, gives an agreeable performance in spite of the artificiality of the role."[6]

References

  1. ^ "Kate Plus Ten". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  2. ^ BFI.org
  3. ^ Wood, Linda (1986). British Films, 1927–1939 (PDF). British Film Institute. p. 95.
  4. ^ Huntley, John, "Steam in the Movies", Steam Railway magazine, 1995
  5. ^ "Kate Plus Ten". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 5 (49): 96. 1 January 1938 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ "Kate Plus Ten 1938 | Britmovie | Home of British Films". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
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