The Impersonator

The Impersonator is a 1961 low-budget black and white British thriller film directed and co-written by Alfred Shaughnessy.[2] An American angle and U.S. character actor John Crawford were incorporated to give this second feature some transatlantic box office appeal.[3]

The Impersonator
Theatrical poster for 1962 continental release
Directed byAlfred Shaughnessy
Produced byAnthony Perry
Written byKenneth Cavander
Alfred Shaughnessy
StarringJohn Crawford
Jane Griffiths
Music byDe Wolfe
CinematographyJohn Coquillon
Edited byJohn Bloom
Production
company
Eyeline Productions
Herald
Distributed byBryanston Films (UK)
Release date
  • May 1961 (1961-05) (UK)
Running time
64 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£22,098[1]

Plot

In an effort to improve relations between a US air force base and the sleepy local English village nearby, airman Sergeant Jimmy Bradford organises a school trip to see the pantomime "Mother Goose". Meanwhile a prowling killer is on the loose and after a night out with the victim, the finger of suspicion points at Bradford.[4]

Cast

Critical reception

Writing in The Radio Times, David Parkinson gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "it's shoestring stuff, but still better than most British B-movies."[5] Britmovie called the film an "excellent British B-thriller produced by Bryanston on a budget of £23,000 that is a cut above the majority of second features."[3]

It was one of 15 films selected by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in The British 'B' Film, their survey of British B films, as among the most meritorious of the B films made in Britain between World War II and 1970. They called it "exceptionally proficient" and noted that the critics Penelope Gilliatt and Dilys Powell had also praised it at the time of its release.[6]

References
  1. Petrie, Duncan James (2017). "Bryanston Films : An Experiment in Cooperative Independent Production and Distribution" (PDF). Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television: 7. ISSN 1465-3451.
  2. "The Impersonator | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  3. "The Impersonator 1960 | Britmovie | Home of British Films". Britmovie. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  4. "The Impersonator/A Time To Kill [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: John Horsley, John Crawford: DVD & Blu-ray". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  5. "The Impersonator | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  6. Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, The British 'B' Film, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, pp. 278–80.
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