I really like Leslie Banks, I think he was one of England's finest actors. He could play all parts and play them very well. Thrillers, ("The Man Who Knew Too Much"(1934)), an eccentric policeman ("The Arsenal Stadium Mystery"(1939)) and a mad "game" hunter ("The Most Dangerous Game" (1932))- his acting always rose to the occasion.
"The Fire Raisers" was an early writing and directorial credit of Michael Powell.
Leslie Banks plays Jim Bronson, a rogue fire assessor that people don't want to employ. His methods are too questionable. He rises to the top of his profession by beating insurance cheats at their own game. By inviting their confidences (and secretly recording them) he then comes in for a % of their claim.
Carol Goodner plays Helen, the secretary who loves Jim from afar. Bronson falls in love with and marries Arden, a childhood friend and daughter of the head of the top insurance company. She is a spendthrift and proceeds to send him broke - so he starts to take risks. He becomes a "fire raiser" and goes in with Stedding (Francis Sullivan) head of a gang of arsonists. Things go wrong and Bronson is unaware that one of their targets is a passenger liner that explodes during a voyage killing many people. Ben Weldon (Hollywood heavy) made a few British films - in this one he plays - Surprise - one of Sullivan's henchmen.
It is an engrossing film with an unusual subject.
"The Fire Raisers" was an early writing and directorial credit of Michael Powell.
Leslie Banks plays Jim Bronson, a rogue fire assessor that people don't want to employ. His methods are too questionable. He rises to the top of his profession by beating insurance cheats at their own game. By inviting their confidences (and secretly recording them) he then comes in for a % of their claim.
Carol Goodner plays Helen, the secretary who loves Jim from afar. Bronson falls in love with and marries Arden, a childhood friend and daughter of the head of the top insurance company. She is a spendthrift and proceeds to send him broke - so he starts to take risks. He becomes a "fire raiser" and goes in with Stedding (Francis Sullivan) head of a gang of arsonists. Things go wrong and Bronson is unaware that one of their targets is a passenger liner that explodes during a voyage killing many people. Ben Weldon (Hollywood heavy) made a few British films - in this one he plays - Surprise - one of Sullivan's henchmen.
It is an engrossing film with an unusual subject.