The Ringer (1952 film)

The Ringer is a 1952 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Herbert Lom, Donald Wolfit, Mai Zetterling, Greta Gynt, William Hartnell, and Denholm Elliott. It was Hamilton's directorial debut and the third English-language sound version of Edgar Wallace's 1929 play, which in of itself was based on his 1925 novel The Gaunt Stranger. The previous adaptations had come in 1928 (silent), 1931, 1932 (Germany-Austria), and 1938. It was shot at Shepperton Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director William Hutchinson.

Synopsis
An underhand solicitor in Meister (Lom) receives threatening notes from a man known as "The Ringer" to all but his wife and Meister who know him as Henry Arthur Milton, a master of disguise. Milton's sister has been found drowned and he blames Meister for her death. Chief Inspector Bliss (Wooland) is put in charge of the case (having gone from New York back to Scotland Yard) to join Inspector Wembury (Victor) of the Metropolitan Police in the Deptford territory. 

Milton was thought to be dead in Australia but his wife (Glynt) arrives in London while bringing in news of the Ringer being alive. The police are called in to monitor him while Meister brings in a Cockney ex-burglar (Hartnell) to serve as consultant in proofing the house. Complicating matters is the arrival of elderly Aberdonian criminologist Dr. Lomond (Wolfit) and Meister's plan to take his secretary (Zetterling) for himself rather than let her abscond with her fresh out of prison lover John Lemley (Elliott), even preparing to leave with his British passport and her German identity card. The lady Milton arrives to warn Meister to leave London while Lomond arrives to observe the two.

Meister traps Lemley by giving him the keys to his office to look for a file before calling the police to entrap him on a burglary charge. Lemley, who figured out who played him, escapes his cell. However, Meister is electrocuted when he tries to get his air tickets from a tray with a wire on it. The police find an Australian whiskey and a gun on the bag of Lomond. The widow provides a distraction for the newly revealed Milton (who came across the real Lomond when in Australia and "borrowed" his credentials) as he runs upstairs to make his way for a new disguise, with the film ending on the widow being escorted away by him in a police car.

Cast

 Herbert Lom as Maurice Meister
 Donald Wolfit as Dr. Lomond
 Mai Zetterling as Lisa
 Greta Gynt as Cora Ann Milton
 William Hartnell as Sam Hackett
 Denholm Elliott as John Lemley
 Norman Wooland as Inspector Bliss
 Dora Bryan as Mrs. Hackett
 Charles Victor as Inspector Wembury
 Walter Fitzgerald as Commissioner
 John Stuart as Gardener
 John Slater as Bell
 Edward Chapman as Stranger
 Campbell Singer as Station Sergeant Carter
 Arthur Lovegrove as Workman installing window bars (uncredited)
 Robert Raglan (uncredited)

Critical reception
Allmovie wrote, "Donald Wolfit, whose legendary thespic excesses were later fictionalized in the stage play The Dresser, is perfectly cast as a vengeance-seeking master of disguise". TV Guide called it an "old-fashioned melodrama with an excellent cast."

See also
 The Ringer (1928)
 The Ringer (1931)
 The Ringer (Der Hexer, 1932)
 The Gaunt Stranger (1938)
 Der Hexer (1964)

References

External links

1952 films
1950s mystery films
Films directed by Guy Hamilton
British mystery films
British films based on plays
Films based on works by Edgar Wallace
1952 directorial debut films
British black-and-white films
Films shot at Shepperton Studios
British Lion Films films
Films set in London
Remakes of British films
1950s English-language films
1950s British films