Room to Let

Room to Let is a 1950 British historical thriller film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Jimmy Hanley, Valentine Dyall and Constance Smith. It was adapted from the BBC radio play by Margery Allingham, broadcast in 1947. Synopsis After a fire at an insane asylum during the Edwardian era, a young journalist becomes convinced that one of the patients has escaped and taken lodgings at a local middle-class household. The mysterious "Doctor Fell" comes to dominate the three woman in the house - mother, daughter and maid - and increasingly shuts them off from outside contact. Despite a lack of assistance from the authorities, the journalist suspects that the Doctor is in fact the notorious Jack the Ripper who is planning a fresh series of attacks. Cast Jimmy Hanley as Curly Minter Valentine Dyall as Doctor Fell Christine Silver as Mrs. Musgrave Merle Tottenham as Alice Constance Smith as Molly Musgrave Charles Hawtrey as Mike Atkinson Aubrey Dexter as Harding Anthony La Penna as JJ Reginald Dyson as Sergeant Cranbourne Laurence Naismith as Editor John Clifford as Atkinson Stuart Saunders as Porter Cyril Conway as Doctor Mansfield Charles Houston as Tom Harriet Petworth as Matron Charles Mander as P.C. Smith H. Hamilton Earle as Orderly F.A. Williams as Butler Archie Callum as Night Watchman Critical reception TV Guide gave the film two out of five stars, calling it "A fairly disturbing programmer which remains suspenseful to the end." and Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings wrote, "This is basically a variation of THE LODGER, and a very effective one. Valentine Dyall steals the movie as the truly creepy lodger, Dr. Fell."