Salute the Toff

Salute the Toff
Directed by	Maclean Rogers
Written by	John Creasey
Based on	Salute the Toff by John Creasey
Produced by	Ernest G. Roy
Starring	John Bentley Carol Marsh Valentine Dyall
Cinematography	Geoffrey Faithfull
Edited by	Jim Connock
Music by	Wilfred Burns
Production company	Nettlefold Films
Distributed by	Butcher's Film Service
Release date	January 1952 (1952-01)
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Salute the Toff is a 1952 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Carol Marsh. The film was based on the 1941 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the sixth in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollinson, also known as "The Toff". This film and another Toff adaptation, Hammer the Toff, were shot back-to-back at Nettlefold Studios in the summer of 1951. They were released to cinemas in January and May 1952 respectively.

Neither film was thought to have survived and both were classed as "missing, believed lost", although there was a degree of hope that they might be lurking as yet uncatalogued in British TV archives. Both films are included on the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films. This changed in 2013 when Salute The Toff was finally released on DVD from Renown Pictures Limited.

Plot

The Honourable Richard Rollinson (Bentley) is a well-known private detective who has friends and contacts in all echelons of society from the wealthy West End set to the lowest East End hovels. He likes to take on cases on behalf of underdogs, and is feared by the criminal underworld for his fearsome reputation of always getting his man.

Young secretary Fay Gretton (Marsh) comes to Rollinson, worried that her employer has not shown up for work for several days and cannot be contacted. Rollinson breaks into the man's flat and finds a body – not that of Fay's missing boss, but the son of a millionaire businessman. The missing man is the prime suspect, and it is up to Rollinson to get to the bottom of the case, aided by his East End contacts. After a series of dramatic events, including Fay being abducted and tied up, the truth is finally revealed, the missing man is found, and Rollinson proves that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Cast

• John Bentley as Richard Rollinson
• Carol Marsh as Fay Gretton
• Valentine Dyall as Inspector Grice
• Shelagh Fraser as Myra Lorne
• June Elvin as Lady Anthea
• Arthur Hill as Ted Harrison
• Michael Golden as Benny Kless
• Roddy Hughes as Jolly
• Wally Patch as Bert Ebbutt
• Vi Stevens as Emily Ebbutt
• Tony Britton as Draycott
• John Forbes-Robertson as Gerald Harvey
• Peter Bull as Lorne
• Peter Gawthorne as Mortimer Harvey
• Pauline Johnson as Phyllis Harvey
• Peter Dyneley as Lady Anthea's Husband
• Peter Swanwick as Night Porter
• Andreas Malandrinos as Frederico

Reception

Salute the Toff appears to have received a favourable reception from reviewers. Kine Weekly described it as "a sturdy, comprehensive yarn", while the Daily Film Renter called it "a deep and varied plot of robbery and murder, calculated to keep audience attention alert, a popular winner in the mystery and murder category". Today's Cinema enjoyed the film, but pointed out that sophisticated fare was not on the menu by classing it as a "bustling crime and detection action of the brand beloved by the masses".

See also

• List of rediscovered films

External links

• BFI 75 Most Wanted entry, with extensive notes
• Salute the Toff at IMDb