The Embezzler

The Embezzler is a 1954 British crime film directed by John Gilling, and starring Charles Victor, Zena Marshall and Cyril Chamberlain. It was made as a second feature shot at Twickenham Studios and on location around London. The film's sets were designed by the art director C. Wilfred Arnold. The story concerns a bank cashier who steals cash from the bank where he is employed. Plot Henry Paulson, a quiet, respectable, henpecked, elderly bank cashier learns that he has only a couple of years left to live. He decides to embezzle money from the bank where he works and enjoy the rest of his days in South America. He books a train ticket at the travel agent and checks the itinerary of a ship and takes his suitcase to work on a quiet Friday afternoon hoping not to be discovered until Monday. Caught in the act by his boss returning unexpectedly, the embezzler locks his boss in his office and flees to a seaside hotel in Eastbourne run by Mrs Larkin booking in under the name of Mr Laughton. There, he joins a group of residents including Mrs Forrest, who has problems of her own as she is being blackmailed by a former lover, Mr Johnson, recently released from prison. Johnson has tracked her down and booked into the same hotel. He thinks, as her husband is a GP, she will wish to hide her past. Johnson also tries to take advantage of fellow resident Miss Ackroyd, tricking her into giving him her string of pearls after deliberately snapping their thread.