Kate Plus Ten (film)

Kate Plus Ten is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Reginald Denham and starring Jack Hulbert, Genevieve Tobin and Noel Madison.[1] It was adapted from the Edgar Wallace novel Kate Plus Ten. It was also released as Queen of Crime.

For Queens of Crime, see Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

Kate Plus Ten
Directed byReginald Denham
Produced byRichard Wainwright
Written byEdgar Wallace (novel)
Jeffrey Dell
Jack Hulbert
StarringJack Hulbert
Genevieve Tobin
Noel Madison
Music byAllan Gray
CinematographyRoy Kellino
Edited byInman Hunter
Production
company
Richard Wainwright Productions
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release date
1 August 1938 (UK)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Production

The film was an independent production shot at Shepperton Studios.[2]

The final third of the film makes extensive use of railway locations. Among these, the main line between Bath and Westbury (Wiltshire) was employed, with a stolen train smashing through fake level crossing gates at Freshford station. The branch line through Limpley Stoke and Camerton was also featured, and a closed colliery in the Somerset coalfield was the location for the scene in which a steam locomotive crashes through wooden shed doors.[3]

Plot summary

Kate, the leader of a gang of criminals, works as secretary to an aristocrat allowing her to pick up vital information. However, the police soon become suspicious of her and Scotland Yard's Inspector Pemberton is sent on her trail.

Cast

Critical reception

Britmovie called it a "light-hearted comedy-thriller," adding, "like so many Wallace stories logic takes a back seat, but the speeding train sequence generates some lively thrills, and Hulbert and Tobin craft a likeable onscreen chemistry. Tobin is wickedly delightful as Kate, and Hulbert, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeffrey Dell, gives an agreeable performance in spite of the artificiality of the role." [4]

References
  1. BFI.org
  2. Wood p.95
  3. Huntley, John, "Steam in the Movies", Steam Railway magazine, 1995
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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


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