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)