The Glass Cage (1955)

Director:

Montgomery Tully

Writers:

Richard H. Landau (screenplay)
A.E. Martin (novel)

Release Date:

15 April 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

JAGGED EDGE OF VIOLENCE!...THAT SHATTERS THE SCREEN WITH SUSPENSE! (original USA print ad for "The Glass Tomb")

Plot:

Crowds flock to a carnival sideshow to see "The Starving Man", a heavyset man who claims he can go 70 days without eating. However, a couple of murders occur at the carnival, resulting in the police becoming involved.

Plot Keywords:

Carnival Barker | Subway Station | Bookmaker | London England | Giant

Cast

  (Credited cast)

John Ireland	...	Pel Pelham
Honor Blackman	...	Jenny Pelham
Geoffrey Keen	...	Harry Stanton
Eric Pohlmann	...	Sapolio
Sid James	...	Tony Lewis (as Sidney James)
Liam Redmond	...	Lindley
Sydney Tafler	...	Rorke (as Sidney Tafler)
Valerie Vernon	...	Bella
Arnold Marlé	...	Pop Maroni
Nora Gordon	...	Marie Sapolio
Sam Kydd	...	George
Ferdy Mayne	...	Bertie
Tonia Bern	...	Rena Maroni
Arthur Howard	...	Rutland
Stan Little	...	Mickelwitz (as Stanley Little)

Also Known As:

The Glass Tomb (USA)

Runtime:

59 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Quotes:

Reporter: [in the murdered girl's apartment] Murder, murder, murder!
Lindley: A sad business, but it's a living.
[leaving the room]
Lindley: Come on, boys. Soon as you wrap it up, get everything over to my office.
Reporter: Got any angles, sir?
Lindley: Well, let's see what Mr. Lewis the bookmaker has to say about the letter.
Reporter: Maybe she lost a bet.
Lindley: Maybe it was the other way around. Somebody paid her off, that's for sure!

Carny Blarney

John Ireland wanders through this B movie like a penniless child in a nightmare candy store! As a freak-show promoter, he is compelled to bankroll a corpulent carny who, billed as The Starving Man, draws crowds to watch him go foodless for 70 days! Instead of turning on the two like hungry lions, mobs of curious Brits pour continuously forth to goggle the decidedly ungaunt attraction while he shaves, sleeps, and so on. Somehow, two murders occur in the midst of the mess, and so the rub. One has to wonder if the whole production (the movie, not the sideshow) is a joke on the audience, since the film is peppered with crude carnality symbolism and (for the fifties) sly sexual innuendo and double entendre. If one has a taste for oh-so-awful flicks and fool-the-rubes humor, this might be worth a peek.