Murder By Proxy – 1955

A Hammer production released by Exclusive Films (UK) and Lippert Films (USA)
Copyright 1953 by Exclusive Films Ltd.
All characters in this photoplay are fictitious and bear no resemblance to any real person, living or dead
RCA Sound System
Produced at Exclusive Studios, Bray, England

Black & White 87 minutes

Storyline

Hopelessly drunk in a London night-club, American Casey Morrow is approached by a beautiful young woman who offers him five hundred pounds if he will marry her. The next morning, he wakes in a strange flat and finds Maggie Doone washing bloodstains from his coat. He has no idea what has happened, but soon finds himself suspected of murder…

Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth	Death	Age	Hammer Credits
Art Director	J. Elder Wills	53	26 Apr 1900	1970	69	22
Assistant Director	Jimmy Sangster	26	2 Dec 1927	19 Aug 2011	83	65
Camera Operator	Len Harris	37	19 May 1916	21 Feb 1995	78	52
Continuity	Renee Glynne	27	3 Aug 1926	6 Apr 2022	95	38
Dialogue Director	Andrew Osborn	43	9 Apr 1910	11 Mar 1985	74	1
Directed by	Terence Fisher	49	23 Feb 1904	18 Jun 1980	76	31
Director of Photography	Walter Harvey Bsc	50	9 Feb 1903	1979	75	34
From the novel by	Helen Nielsen	35	23 Oct 1918	22 Jun 2002	83	1
Furs	Molho					2
Hairdresser	Nina Broe			1993		10
Make-up	Phil Leakey	45	4 May 1908	26 Nov 1992	84	48
Miss Lee's Gowns	Ben Pearson					2
Musical Director	Ivor Slaney	32	27 May 1921	20 Mar 1998	76	11
Produced by	Michael Carreras	26	21 Dec 1927	19 Apr 1994	66	82
Production Manager	Mickey Delamar	46	1908	1971	63	7
Screenplay by	Richard Landau	39	21 Feb 1914	18 Sep 1993	79	8
Sound Recording	Bill Salter			1983		17
Sound Recording	George Burgess	57	1897	1 Feb 1956	59	3
Wardrobe	Molly Arbuthnot	45	19 Dec 1908	31 Oct 2001	92	48

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth	Death	Age	Hammer Appearances
Alicia	Betty Ann Davies	43	24 Dec 1910	14 May 1955	44	2
Bartender	Alfie Bass	37	8 Apr 1916	15 Jul 1987	71	3
Big John	Martin Lawrence					1
Casey Morrow	Dane Clark	41	18 Feb 1912	11 Sep 1998	86	3
Dora	Nora Gordon	60	29 Nov 1893	11 May 1970	76	4
Inspector Johnson	Michael Golden	40	15 Aug 1913	1983	69	3
Lance Gordon	Andrew Osborn	43	9 Apr 1910	11 Mar 1985	74	4
Linda	Delphi Lawrence	21	23 Mar 1932	11 Apr 2002	70	3
Lita	Alvys Maben	32	1922	29 Sep 1963	41	3
Maggie Doone	Eleanor Summerfield	32	7 Mar 1921	13 Jul 2001	80	3
Miss Nardis	Jill Melford	22	23 Nov 1931	20 Feb 2018	86	2
Phyllis	Belinda Lee	18	15 Jun 1935	12 Mar 1961	25	2
Singer	Cleo Laine	26	28 Oct 1927	Living	93	1
Travis	Harold Lang	30	1923	16 Nov 1970	47	8

Production


FILMING BEGAN	1 November 1953
UK RELEASE	28 March 1955
STUDIO	Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England

Footnotes

Alfie Bass has a small part in this film. In the late 1950’s he starred in the successful Granada TV series “The Army Game”, as well as in the cinema spin-off “I Only Arsked”, which was produced by Hammer in 1959. Later appearances by him include Hammer’s “A Challenge for Robin Hood” (1967) and as the head of menswear in BBC TV’s “Are You Being Served?”

Actress Betty Ann Davies died shortly after the film was released following an appendectomy.

Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection