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The Impersonator
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Wikipedia article
'The Impersonator' is a 1961 low-budget black and white British thriller film directed and co-written by Alfred Shaughnessy. An American angle and U.S. character actor John Crawford were incorporated to give this second feature some transatlantic box office appeal.
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.
Cast
*John Crawford Sgt. Jimmy Bradford
*Jane Griffiths Ann Loring
*Patricia Burke Mrs Lloyd
*John Salew Harry Walker
*John Dare Tommy Lloyd
*John Arnatt Detective Superintendent Fletcher
*Yvonne Ball Principal boy in "Mother Goose"
*Edmund Glover Colonel
*Frank Thornton as Police Sergeant
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." 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."
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.Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, 'The British 'B' Film', Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, pp. 27880.
References
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