The Black Panther (1977)

Director:

Ian Merrick

Writer:

Michael Armstrong (writer)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

What you are about to see is TRUE...it actually happened!

Plot:

A gung-ho ex-military man pursues a secret life of crime, culminating in the kidnapping of a teenage heiress. |

Plot Keywords:

Kidnapping | England | Ex Soldier | Dead Girl | Psychopath

Cast

Donald Sumpter	...	Donald Neilson
Debbie Farrington	...	Lesley Whittle
Marjorie Yates	...	Neilson's Wife
Sylvia O'Donnell	...	Neilson's Daughter
Andrew Burt	...	Lesley's Brother
Alison Key	...	Lesley's Sister-In-Law
Ruth Dunning	...	Lesley's Mother
David Swift	...	Detective Chief Superintendent
Michael Barrington
Lila Kaye
Delia Paton
Gerry Sundquist
Ruth Kettlewell
Graham Ashley
Brenda Cowling

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Norway:15 | Iceland:16

Company:

Impics Productions

Trivia:

'Ian Holm (I)' was originally offered the role of Donald Neilson and agreed to accept providing a meeting of reassurance could be arranged between the family of Lesley Whittle and himself. The Whittle family however had distanced themselves from the film and Holm withdrew from the production.

Cold... Cunning.... This is the face of the man you fear!

Donald Sumpter is flawless in his portrayal of Donald Neilson, a pretty weird guy. I saw this on tape when I was about five or six, and fifteen years later I still remember certain scenes very vividly. By all accounts one of the most factual true crime pictures ever made.