Brass Monkey – 1948 | 100 mins | Crime, Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Based on an old British radio show, ‘The Brass Monkey’ is a fast-paced b-movie mystery and comedy thriller that spent three years gathering dust before its eventual release in 1951. The film is littered with stars such as Herbert Lom, Avril Angers and Terry-Thomas, but it is perhaps most famous for being the swansong of tragic Hollywood beauty Carole Landis. She committed suicide soon after completing this film.

When a priceless brass monkey is smuggled into the country, radio presenter Caroll Levis and friend Kay Sheldon (Carole Landis) finds themselves inadvertently caught up in the crime. The smuggling is being handled by London fence Gilroy (Campbell Cotts) and his villainous henchman Peter Hobart (Herbert Lom), who are obtaining the titular Buddhist artefact for connoisseur Ryder-Harris (Ernest Thesiger). The brass monkey is misplaced and there’s a suspicion murders are being committed in the hunt for its retrieval.