Based on the novel It Is Never Too Late to Mend by Charles Reade, this was produced at Shepperton Studios as a “quota quickie” for MGM, but it was popular enough to be rereleased in 1942. Directed by David MacDonald (Devil Girl from Mars) and written by H. F. Maltby, this stars Tod Slaughter as John Meadows, a wealthy man who wants a farmer’s (D.J. Williams) daughter (Marjorie Taylor) and takes out the competition by sending her lover, George Fielding (Ian Colin), to prison.

Luckily, Reverend Eden (Roy Russell) takes a tour of Meadows’ jail and notes how horrible it must be for the prisoners. He takes a special interest in ensuring that Fielding gets out and back to his true love. 

It’s what you expect from a Tod Slaughter movie: He’s a respected society man who is secretly evil and gets found out right at the end. But if it works…it works.

You can watch this on YouTube.

Released in the U.S. as The Girl Was Young, this Hitchcock film was based on the novel A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey. In the book, the storyline involving Robert, Erica, and the missing coat is a subplot, not the main tale.

Christine Clay (Pamela Carne), a successful actress, and her ex-husband, Guy (George Curzon), are arguing over whether their quick Reno divorce is final. What is final is her washing up dead on a beach and the cops blaming the man who found her body, writer Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney). He’s defended by a cop’s daughter, Erica Burgoyne (Nova Pilbeam), and sneaks out of the courtroom and rides on the running board of her car to escape the law.

One of Robert’s old coats is behind the killing; the belt was used. He can’t find that coat until he sees it on a homeless man. The belt is missing, however, and the man tells Robert and Erica that a man with twitchy eyes — just like the one we saw Guy have at the beginning — gave him the overcoat. 

Despite how long ago this came out, the end is still great, as a crane shot reveals that Guy is a drummer in a band — in blackface — and he starts twitching so much when the cops arrive that he has to take medicine that knocks him out. Hitchcock said that it took two days to shoot the long tracking shot in the dance hall, as the camera pans from the ceiling to the band to Guy’s eyes.

You can download this from the Internet Archive.

Based on The Ticket-of-Leave Man, an 1863 play by Tom Taylor that introduced the character Hawkshaw the Detective, a popular figure in Victorian literature known for his cunning and relentless pursuit of justice, the name of this movie is a reference to the ticket of leave issued to convicts upon release.

Robert Brierly (John Warwick) and the notorious criminal, The Tiger (Tod Slaughter), both find themselves entangled in a love triangle with May Edwards (Marjorie Taylor). The Tiger, in a bid to separate Brierly from his beloved, orchestrates a cunning plan. He manipulates the situation to send Brierly to jail for passing bad checks, and then attempts to frame him for a heinous crime.

Another film that teams up Slaughter with director George King, this also has Hawkshaw the detective (Robert Adair) as the hero, stalking beer gardens for info on The Tiger and his henchmen. Soon, The Tiger has become Purvis, CEO of The Good Samaritan Help Society, presiding over this charity but really committing villainous deeds. I mean, the dude sets his office on fire and watches as one of his men burns inside, laughing like a lunatic. 

And of course, what’s a Tod Slaughter movie without his signature performance? His over-the-top cackling and scene-stealing antics are what you’re here for.

You can watch this on YouTube.