Down River

Early British talkie (some scenes are "silent" and others have "synchronised sound" added) in which Charles Laughton plays a murderous half-Dutch, half-oriental skipper involved in dope-trafficking. A girl reporter (Jane Baxter) investigating his activities is discovered and held captive by Laughton but saved in the nick of time by her Customs Officer fiancée (Harold Huth). There are some hectic fights between Laughton's ship's crew and the police which are somewhat speeded up in the Keystone Cops manner. Laughton's make-up is suitably oriental in appearance though he's never too sure of his Dutch accent. A contemporary review wrote: "Thick-ear melodrama, excellent Thames-side background, good schoolboy stuff."