The Case of the Frightened Lady – 1940 | 81 mins | Drama, Crime | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Psychological murder mystery adapted from the sparse stageplay by Edgar Wallace.

Set on the Marks Priory estate of the aristocratic Lebanon family, with Dowager Lady Lebanon (Helen Hayes) harbouring a deep dark family secret. The house gives the creeps to Lady Lebanon’s secretary, Isla Crane (Penelope Dudley-Ward), who is further unsettled when she discovers a lock on the outside of her bedroom door. The Dowagers lonely son, Lord Lebanon (Marius Goring), is also perturbed by his mother’s odd behaviour when she insists that Richard Ferraby (Patrick Barr), a London architect renovating the manor, is given accommodation in a nearby village rather than at the priory.

Events turn darker when the Lebanon family chauffer, Studd (John Warwick), found strangled one evening. Scotland Yard despatch Det. Inspector Tanner (George Merritt) and his slow-witted assistant Sergeant Totty (Ronald Shiner) to investigate the case. Given that the chauffeur was strangled with an Indian silk scarf, suspicion falls on Lebanon family physician Dr. Amersham (Felix Aylmer), who served in the army with Studd in India. The police are just about to arrest Amersham when the case takes an unexpected turn.