The Crouching Beast

The Crouching Beast
Directed by	Victor Hanbury
Written by	Valentine Williams (novel) L. du Garde Peach
Produced by	John Stafford
Starring	Fritz Kortner Wynne Gibson Richard Bird
Cinematography	James Wilson
Edited by	David Lean
Music by	Jack Beaver
Production company	John Stafford Productions
Distributed by	RKO Pictures
Release dates	29 August 1935 (1935-08-29) (London) 6 January 1936 (1936-01-06) (UK)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Crouching Beast is a 1935 British war thriller film directed by Victor Hanbury and starring Fritz Kortner, Wynne Gibson and Richard Bird. It was shot at Welwyn Studios with sets designed by the art director Duncan Sutherland. Based on the novel Clubfoot by Valentine Williams, the film was distributed by the Hollywood studio RKO Pictures in order to fulfil its British quota. However it was considerably more expensive than many of the quota quickies produced by American companies during the era.

Plot

In 1915 during the First World War, a British secret agent is killed while stealing secret Turkish plans for the Gallipoli Campaign. Before his death, the British agent manages to pass his information to an American journalist. Travelling to Constantinople, she manages to make contact with the British network, but the ruthless head of Turkish intelligence is close on her trail.

Cast

• Fritz Kortner as Ahmed Bey
• Wynne Gibson as Gail Dunbar
• Richard Bird as Nigel Druce
• Andrews Engelmann as Prince Dmitri
• Isabel Jeans as The Pellegrini
• Fred Conyngham as Rudi von Linz
• Peter Gawthorne as Kadir Pasha
• Ian Fleming as Major Abbott
• Marjorie Mars as Ottillie

Bibliography

• Low, Rachael. Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
• Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

• The Crouching Beast at IMDb