Dead Men Are Dangerous – 1939 | 69 mins | Thriller, Mystery | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Murky quota-quickie thriller set in pre-war London. The tight little story pushes the bounds of credibility but director Harold French creates a sense of tension and maintains a brisk pace to proceedings. This was Robert Newton’s first lead role and he’s eminently compelling and produces a sympathetic portrayal of a debt-ridden writer who fakes his own death with unexpected repercussions.

Unsuccessful and debt-ridden writer Aylmer Franklyn (Robert Newton) is being pursued by debtors when one stormy night he discovers a corpse beneath a fallen tree branch. The struggling Franklyn decides to fake his own death and change identities with the corpse. However, the writer wakes the days later to news of ‘The Templemere Murder’ and discovers the corpse beneath the branch had been murdered first – and he is chief suspect in his own murder.

Frankyn attends his own inquest in disguise to hear the coroner return a verdict of murder. He is recognised in the inquest room by the real murderer, Goddard (John Warwick), who wants to reclaim an incriminating diary that was left on the body of the corpse. Goddard breaks into Franklyn’s Pimlico boarding house and assaults a maid, bringing the police to the scene, who discover the chequered clothes the writer stole from the corpse. Soon Franklyn is on the run, and after narrowly escaping a police cordon around Hyde Park, the fugitive finds himself delivered into the arms of the real criminals.