The Hoxton Creeper

The Hoxton Creeper is a man who worked for Giles Conover in the 1944 Universal Pictures film, The Pearl of Death.
== The Creeper ==
The Creeper was a thuggish giant of a man whose modus operandi was to snap the backs of his victims with his large hands. He worked for criminal mastermind Giles Conover, who had sent him out in London looking for miniature plaster busts of Napoleon Bonaparte. The reason for this that one such bust hid the famous (and valuable) 'Black Pearl of the Borgias'. Unfortunately for the owners of said busts, the Creeper wasn't hesitant to kill whoever got in his way.
The Creeper was eventually confronted by Holmes at the house of the final Napoleon, who convinced him that Conover would double-cross him. The brute believed him, leading him to turn on the criminal mastermind. He was then shot and killed by Holmes, where upon his body fell into the River Thames.
== Behind the scenes ==
The Creeper seems to be based on Beppo (or at the very least the description of the man) from the Conan Doyle classic "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons".
The character of the Creeper would make some return appearances in a short series of (unrelated) movies by Universal, House of Horrors (1946) and Brute Man (1946). More movies were planned, but actor Rondo Hatton died due to health issues stemming from his acromegaly.
Despite looking quite large on screen, actor Rondo Hatton wasn't very tall in real life (notwithstanding his appearance and medical condition).
The tall brutish strangler "The Golem" (aka: Oscar Dzundza) from BBC's Sherlock seems to be meant as a nod to this character.
A version of the Creeper appears in Kim Newman's book Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles, once again vying for the Black Pearl of the Borgias.
Category:Villains
Category:Characters: Rathbone and Bruce films