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 Productions
	Click a link for more info					Credited	Uncredited	Total
Art Director	J. Elder Wills	54	26 Apr 1900	1970	69	22		22
Ast. Director	Jimmy Sangster	27	2 Dec 1927	19 Aug 2011	83	65	2	67
Camera Operator	Len Harris	38	19 May 1916	21 Feb 1995	78	52	1	53
Continuity	Renee Glynne	28	3 Aug 1926	6 Apr 2022	95	38	3	41
Director	Terence Fisher	51	23 Feb 1904	18 Jun 1980	76	31		31
Director of Photog.	Walter Harvey BSc	52	9 Feb 1903	1979	75	34		34
From the novel by	Helen Nielsen	36	23 Oct 1918	22 Jun 2002	83	1		1
Furs	Molho					2		2
Hairdresser	Nina Broe			1993		10		10
Make-up	Phil Leakey	46	4 May 1908	26 Nov 1992	84	48		48
Miss Lee's Gowns	Ben Pearson			1993		2		2
Musical Director	Ivor Slaney	33	27 May 1921	20 Mar 1998	76	11	1	12
Producer	Michael Carreras	27	21 Dec 1927	19 Apr 1994	66	82	3	85
Production Manager	Mickey Delamar	47	1 Jan 1908	1 Jan 1971	63	7	1	8
Screenplay	Richard Landau	41	21 Feb 1914	18 Sep 1993	79	8		8
Sound Recording	George Burgess	58	1897	Feb 1956	59	3		3
Sound Recording	Bill Salter			1983		17		17
Wardrobe	Molly Arbuthnot	46	19 Dec 1908	31 Oct 2001	92	48	4	52
Uncredited
Third Ast. Director	John Comfort	19	20 Jul 1935	18 Dec 2019	84		1	1

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Alicia	Betty Anne Davies	44	24 Dec 1910		14 May 1955	44	2		2
Bartender	Alfie Bass	38	8 Apr 1916		15 Jul 1987	71	3		3
Big John	Martin Lawrence						1	1	2
Casey Morrow	Dane Clark	43	18 Feb 1912		11 Sep 1998	86	3		3
Dora	Nora Gordon	61	29 Nov 1893		11 May 1970	76	4	1	5
Inspector Johnson	Michael Golden	41	15 Aug 1913		1983	69	3	1	4
Lance Gordon	Andrew Osborn	44	9 Apr 1910		11 Mar 1985	74	3		3
Linda	Delphi Lawrence	23	23 Mar 1932		11 Apr 2002	70	3		3
Lita	Alvys Maben	33	1 Jan 1922		29 Sep 1963	41	3		3
Maggie Doone	Eleanor Summerfield	34	7 Mar 1921		13 Jul 2001	80	3		3
Miss Nardis	Jill Melford	23	23 Nov 1931		20 Feb 2018	86	2		2
Phyllis	Belinda Lee	19	15 Jun 1935		12 Mar 1961	25	2		2
Singer	Cleo Laine	27	28 Oct 1927	28.10.1927		95	1		1
Travis	Harold Lang	32	1 Jan 1923		16 Nov 1970	47	8	1	9
Uncredited
Detective	Lindsay Hooper							9	9
Landlady	Olive Stone	58	16 Dec 1896		28 Jun 1963	66		1	1
Mrs Brunner's Butler	Arnold Diamond	39	18 Apr 1915		18 Mar 1992	76	4	2	6
Police Constable	Joe Phelps							7	7
Pub Customer	Arthur Lovegrove	41	15 Jul 1913		7 Nov 1981	68	3	6	9
Pub Patron	Norman Fisher							2	2
With	Ann Gow							1	1

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