Great Defender, The

Date: 1934
Director: Thomas Bentley
Production Company: Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), British Instructional Films (BIF)

Stars: Matheson Lang, Margaret Bannerman, Arthur Margetson, Richard Bird, Jeanne Stuart, Sam Livesey, Lawrence Hanray
Location(s): London

Region(s):

Storyline:

While battling with serious illness a highly regarded barrister defends an artist who is facing the death penalty for allegedly murdering his model.

Additional Information:

Screen captures by Phil Wilkinson

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We are aware that there are films on the site that were added when the criteria for the inclusion of locations was very different from today and, as a result, there may be scenes missing from some productions. Please do not forward additional screen captures to us but bring the detail to our attention, for we do, and are, 're-addressing' these older entries as time allows.

  • Capture 1
  • 12 Dec 2022

With the titles over, The Old Bailey appears where, inside, Sir Douglas Rolls fights for his Client. The Central Criminal Court on Old Bailey, London EC4. The dome of which can be seen in ‘Dr. Crippen’, ‘The Pot Carriers’, ‘The Pure Hell of St. Trinians’, ‘The Blue Lamp’, ‘Smart Alec’, ‘Three Sundays to Live’, 'Game for Three Losers', ‘The Long Dark Hall’ and ‘Circumstantial Evidence’.

From street level. SJ

  • Capture 2
  • 'Now' required

Lower down the building, the camera finds the words “Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer."

  • Capture 3
  • 'Now' required

Looking through his apartment window, artist Leslie Locke spots Eric Hammond (Richard Bird) meet with his model Phyllis Ware (Jeanne Stuart) in the street below. This appears to be a studio set.

  • Capture 4
  • 'Now' required

Eric and Phyllis reach the river where they continue their conversation before heading to see his parents. With few locations in the film, this and the following backgrounds are included. However, this scene doesn’t match with the next capture, and it could even be a painting.

  • Capture 5
  • 'Now' required

Standing in the background here is what seems to be a large photograph of the original Chelsea Bridge, crossing the Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.

  • Capture 6
  • 'Now' required

Charged with his model’s murder, Leslie Locke’s trial continues as the public are updated by changing newspaper headlines. Studio set or Reel Street? For now, it’s unidentified either way.