The Ringer

At least half a dozen screen adaptations of Edgar Wallace's 1925 story had been made before Guy Hamilton dusted it down for this slick if slightly musty version. Tipped off by Greta Gynt that her husband, the villainous master of disguise known as "The Ringer", didn't perish in Australia, shady lawyer Herbert Lom hires ex-con William Hartnell to be his bodyguard. But this is just one of many plotlines that Hamilton weaves together with consummate skill. He's not always helped by Val Valentine and Lesley Storm's creakiily cornball script (which gives away its secret far too early). But the ensemble couldn't be better, with Norman Wooland and Charles Victor representing the law, Mai Zetterling being lured into a trap by the hissable Lom (who wants to steal her from jailbird boyfriend Denholm Elliott), and Dora Bryan and Donald Wolfit stealing scenes for fun as Hartnell's cockney partner and an Aberdonian criminologist researching a book.