The Menace
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Roy William Neill
H. B. Warner
Walter Byron
Bette Davis
Natalie Moorhead
William Davidson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Using the alias Robert Crockett, Ronald Quayle returns home to England, to seek revenge for being wrongfully accused of his father's murder. Ronald suspects that the murder was committed by his beautiful, young stepmother Caroline and her lover, Jack Utterson, who is posing as her brother. Their testimony sent Ronald to prison, from which he escaped with his cellmate Anderson. Once out of prison, Ronald and Anderson fled to America and worked in an oil field. An explosion scarred Ronald's face, but plastic surgeon Dr. H. Jorgensen performed an operation which gave him a completely different appearance. During the time that Ronald was in America, Caroline spent all of Ronald's father's fortune and was forced to put the Quayle home up for sale. Upon his arival in England, Ronald goes to his former home and pretends to be a potential buyer. Thanks to his new face and assumed identity, Ronald is not recognized by Caroline, who flirts with him and initiates a romance. Meanwhile, Ronald's former sweetheart, Peggy Lowell, is assigned by Scotland Yard Inspector Tracy to assist a bailiff in inventorying the house in hopes that she will find evidence to clear Ronald's name. Ronald then informs Sam Louis, one of Caroline's cohorts, and Jack that he intends to elope to New York with Caroline, which raises their suspicions that she may double-cross them. Further igniting the men's fears is a magnificent necklace that Ronald presents to her. At a Halloween party soon after, Ronald plants the necklace on Sam, who is then killed by Jack, who believes that Sam stole the jewels. Ronald goes to Tracy and shows him Sam's corpse, which has been hidden in a sarcopohagus. A fight in the vicinity of a feathered serpent statue ensues between Ronald and Jack. The statue falls on Jack and, as he lies dying, he confesses to the murder of Ronald's father and implicates Caroline also. After Ronald is cleared of the charges against him, he and Peggy are left in possession of Quayle Manor.
Director
Roy William Neill
Cast
H. B. Warner
Walter Byron
Bette Davis
Natalie Moorhead
William Davidson
Crauford Kent
Halliwell Hobbes
Charles Gerrard
Murray Kinnell
Frank Rice
Forrester Harvey
Montagu Love
Arletta Duncan
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was The Feathered Serpent. Although "Ronald's" prison escape is described in reviews, it May have been cut from the viewed print.
