The Last Page (1952)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

James Hadley Chase (play)
Frederick Knott (writer)

Release Date:

25 January 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Look if you like...but look out! She's Man Bait!

Plot:

The married owner of a bookstore is attracted to his sexy blonde clerk. He finally gives in to temptation and makes a pass at her, but that only results in him getting enmeshed in blackmail and murder. |

Plot Keywords:

Blackmail | Murder | Based On Play

Cast

George Brent	...	John Harman
Marguerite Chapman	...	Stella Tracy
Raymond Huntley	...	Clive Oliver
Peter Reynolds	...	Jeffrey Hart
Eleanor Summerfield	...	Vi
Meredith Edwards	...	Inspector Dale
Harry Fowler	...	Joe, clerk
Diana Dors	...	Ruby Bruce
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sybil Saxon	...	Bank Clerk (scenes deleted)
Nelly Arno	...	Miss Rosetti, clerk (uncredited)
Eleanor Brown	...	(uncredited)
Eleanor Bryan	...	Mary Lewis, clerk (uncredited)
Isabel Dean	...	May Harmon (uncredited)
Archie Duncan	...	Police Constable (uncredited)
Jack Faint	...	Club Manager (uncredited)
Harold Goodwin	...	Frank, the waiter (uncredited)
David Keir	...	Mr. Quince, clerk (uncredited)
John Mann	...	Jack (uncredited)
Lawrence O'Madden	...	First Customer (uncredited)
Conrad Phillips	...	Detective Todd (uncredited)
Lawrence Ward	...	Larry (uncredited)
Leslie Weston	...	Mr. Bruce (uncredited)
Ian Wilson	...	Mushroom Book Customer (uncredited)

Directed by
Terence Fisher

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James Hadley Chase		play
Frederick Knott		writer

Produced by
Anthony Hinds	....	producer

Original Music by
Frank Spencer

Cinematography by
Walter J. Harvey		(as Walter Harvey)

Film Editing by
Maurice Rootes

Casting by
Michael Carreras

Art Direction by
Andrew Mazzei

Makeup Department
Philip Leakey	....	makeup artist (as Phil Leakey)
Anne Box	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Arthur Barnes	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jimmy Sangster	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bill Salter	....	sound engineer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joy Curtis	....	wardrobe

Other crew
Renée Glynne	....	continuity (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Hammer Film Productions (in association with)
• Lippert Films

Distributors

• Exclusive Films (1952) (UK) (theatrical)
• Lippert Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kit Parker Films (2004) (USA) (all media) (copyright owner)

Also Known As:

Man Bait (USA)

Runtime:

84 min | USA:78 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

A guy gets out of prison, see ...

...First thing he does is go to a bookstore. He tries to steal a book. That is how logical this movie is throughout. When we see shelves of books at a time, later, the books seem to be attached to each other. They're like room decorations some people buy in bulk.

The proprietor of this bookstore is, of all people, George Brent. He had a long career. Though this is a noir of sorts and I therefore can't give it a bad rating, let's just say this is hardly a career highlight for him.

Marguerite Chapman is attractive and convincing as his employee. She's stylish and pretty and comes off as nice.

This is an early Diana Dors film. She's decent in it. She gets pulled into some very bad behavior. But she's not a truly terrible character. She's chronically late to work and weak willed.

This isn't a memorable or distinguished film. But it isn't terrible, either. Nor does it hold to any formula. It's mediocre in a unique way.