The Dark Eyes of London – 1939 | 73 mins | Horror, Mystery | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Eerie Grand Guignol mystery-thriller based on the novel by Edgar Wallace, the film would achieve the distinction of being Britain’s first domestic production to acquire an `H’ certificate. Directed by Walter Summers at Welwyn Studios, this bleak and remarkably deeply disturbing film for the time also garners a good dual performance from Bela Lugosi.

Scotland Yard Inspector Larry Holt (Hugh Williams) and visiting Chicago cop O’Reilly (Edmon Ryan) investigate a series of mysterious drownings of blind people in the River Thames. Diana Stuart (Greta Gynt), a daughter of one victim, helps the police discover that each of the dead men were residents at an institution for the blind run by kindly old gent Dearborn (Bela Lugosi). They then discover that the benevolent old proprietor is in fact Greenwich insurance broker Dr Feodor Orloff in disguise. Orloff is swindling the blind clients for their insurance money and then drowning them in the Thames with the assistance of his hideous henchman Jake.