The Face at the Window *** (1939, Tod Slaughter, Marjorie Taylor, John Warwick, Aubrey Mallalieu) – Classic Movie Review 10,866

Producer-director George King’s 1939 thriller The Face at the Window stars Tod Slaughter at his most succulently barnstorming as Chevalier Lucio del Gardo in a 19th-century tale of an 1880 Paris deranged killer who keeps his victims off guard with the help of his simple half-brother, whose maniac face appears at the window. So the deranged killer’s series of murders is attributed to a Wolf Man.

For once the delightfully hammy Mr Slaughter has a fairly decent production to back him up in an entertaining slice of Gothic hokum.

The screenplay by A R Rawlinson (scenario and dialogue) and Randall Faye is based on F Brooke Warren’s play, adapted three times before: 1919, 1920 and 1932.

Also in the cast are Marjorie Taylor, John Warwick, Aubrey Mallalieu, Robert Adair, Harry Terry, Wallace Everrett, Leonard Henry, Kay Lewis, Bill Shine and Margaret Yarde.

Mr Slaughter’s real name was Slaughter, but alas not Tod Slaughter. He was born plain Norman Carter Slaughter on 19 March 1885 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,866

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