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Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn
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Wikipedia article
'Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn' is a 1935 British film melodrama film starring Tod Slaughter and Eric Portman. It was directed by Milton Rosmer. It is based on the true story of the 1827 Red Barn Murder where a 25 year old mother is shot dead by her lover (Squire William Corder) and her stepmother claims to have dreamt of the murder the night of the event, before the young woman's body was discovered. The film is also known as 'Murder in the Red Barn' (short UK title).
The film is based on the popular 19th-century melodramas about the case and is highly theatrical, with an opening in which all the characters are introduced by a Master of Ceremonies in front of a painted backdrop, but is also slightly more lavishly produced and cinematically inventive than the later films directed by Tod Slaughter's producer George King. Slaughter gives a full-throated over-the-top performance in a calculatedly melodramatic style, encouraging the audience to vicariously share in his villainy; this approach became his trademark and gives his films a cult status of their own peculiar kind.
Plot
William Corder seduces then murders innocent country maiden Maria Marten in the red barn before burying her body beneath the barn floor. She gets murdered because she becomes pregnant and too annoying for William.
Cast
*Tod Slaughter as Squire William Corder
*Sophie Stewart as Maria Marten
*D. J. Williams as Farmer Thomas Marten
*Eric Portman as Carlos, the gypsy
*Clare Greet as Mrs. Marten
*Gerard Tyrell as Timothy Winterbottom
*Ann Trevor as Nan, the maid
*Stella Rho as Gypsey Crone
*Dennis Hoey as Gambling Winner
*Quentin McPhearson as Matthew Sennett
*Antonia Brough as Maud Sennett
*Noel Dainton as Officer Steele of the Bow Street Runners
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