The Last Page

The Last Page - 1951 | 78 mins | Crime| B&W

The Production Team

Director: Terence Fisher.
Producer: Anthony Hinds.
Script: Frederick Knott. (from the play by James Hadley Chase)
Cinematography: Walter J. Harvey.
Editing: Maurice Rootes.
Art Direction: Andrew Mazzei.
Makeup Department: Anne Box and Philip Leakey.
Sound: Bill Salter.
Original Music: Frank Spencer.

The Cast

George Brent - John Harman
Marguerite Chapman - Stella Tracy
Raymond Huntley - Clive Oliver
Peter Reynolds - Jeffrey Hart
Diana Dors - Ruby Bruce
Eleanor Summerfield0 - Vi
Meredith Edwards - Inspector Dale
Harry Fowler - Joe
Conrad Phillips - Detective Todd

Plot Synopsis

Well over a dozen co-productions were made by Hammer and Exclusive using American stars, the occasional American director, and frequently involving American writers, most notably Richard Landau. The first was The Last Page (retitled Man Bait), Terence Fisher was the director (his first work for Hammer-Exclusive); Frederick Knott, better known as the author of Dial M for Murder did the screenplay from a stage play by James Hadley Chase. All told, far more striking talents were at work than on any picture, and commercially it did the trick.

George Brent, nearing the end of his career, portrays a London bookshop manager blackmailed by Diana Dors as his busty young assistant in cahoots with her boyfriend (Peter Reynolds). Another American star, Marguerite Chapman, provided the conventional love interest for a happy ending.