The Brighton Strangler
The Brighton Strangler
| 10 May 1945 (USA)
The Brighton Strangler Trailers

After suffering a head injury during the Blitz, John Loder, a theatre actor comes to believe himself to be the Brighton Strangler, the murderer he was playing onstage.

Reviews
ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
LeonLouisRicci Sometimes Stylish Director Max Nosseck made this the Same Year as His Celebrated Lawrence Tierney Film-Noir, Dillinger. This One has its Moments and is a Serviceable and Above Average Thriller.The Setting is London, During the War and Much is Made of Blackouts, Coupons, and Uniforms. There are Dead Flyer Brothers that Lead to Family Deceptions and All Sorts of Odd Things. It is an Air-Raid's Falling Debris that Sends Celebrated Stage Actor John Loder into an Amnesiatic Frenzy of Schizophrenia.That is the Premise and it is Played Out with the Beginning and Ending Acts that are the Best. It Meanders a Bit in the Middle with a Romantic Sub-Plot with an American Serviceman and some Forced Comedy about American Slang, but it Manages to Keep its Footing for the Final Curtain.Overall, Worth a Watch for the Life During Wartime Setting and a Few Directorial Touches. There are some Tense Murders and it is Atmospheric in Spots. Recommended for Fans of B-Movies and Thrillers, also for those that Like a Bit of a Twist in Movie Murder Sprees.
sol ***SPOILERS*** It was the strange combination of playing the murderous Edward Gray in the play the "Brighton Strangler" for 300 straight performances and getting hit on the head by falling debris when a Luftaffa bomb hit the London theater he was performing at ,the Mayfair,that caused actor Reginald Parker, John Loder, to completely lose it. The poor chap started to actually believe that he in fact was the "Brighton Strangler" and in that went out of his way,in far of Brighton, to do his 301th performance as the fictitious killer Edward Gray. But this time it was not an act on Parkers part but the real thing with real victims as well!Predictable since you've seen it all before in Parker playing the "Brighton Srangler" on the stage at the very beginning of the movie and knowing, by Parker telegraphing it all in advance , whats going to happen well before it does in the film! Of course no one really knows what Parker, or Edward Gray as he calls himself, is planning since his play "The Brighton Strangler" wasn't that well know,like say "Hamlet", in Brighton England so his crimes there weren't at first connected with him.It was in London pub when US Army Air Force Let. Bob Carson, Michael St. Angel, saw a poster of the play "The Brighton Strangler" with Parker's photo that he realized that the guy was the person he entrusted to be with his fiancée British WACK April Manby, June Duprez, back in Brighton while he was on his way to the front to battle the Nazis over the skies of Europe! With Gray or Parker going through the numbers,by following the "Brighton Strangler" scrip, and murdering Brighton's Mayor Herman Clive, Ion Wolf, and top cop Inspector W.R. Allison, Milles Mander, that only thing left for him was to finish off Miss Mamby to end his charade as the "Brighton Strangler" and finally call it quits.***SPOILERS*** Somewhat off the wall ending with the deranged Parker's girlfriend, who at first thought that he didn't surviver the Luftwaffe bombing, getting everyone in the movie to applaud her boyfriend's performance just as he was about to strangle April that cause him to lose his concentration and blow his big scene. Parker in him seeing what a good job of acting he did,by all the applause he got, stops strangling April and takes a bow thus falling to his death, backwards, off the roof of the hotel by not realizing how close he was to the ledge of the building! Luckily for April her murder was supposed to take place on New Years Eve which gave her and her fiancée Bob just enough time to come to her rescue! In that when Parker had a chance to murder her earlier in the movie he noticed that Big Ben wasn't ringing in the New Year and then stopped and waited for the right moment, midnight December 31th, for him to murder her!
ccthemovieman-1 The was a British film portraying a stage actor who is hit on the head during a bombing in World War II raid on London and then acts the "strangler" in the play he's in, forgetting that he's just an actor. It's an interesting premise. Most of the plot was pretty obvious but there was a twist or two thrown in which kept my attention.However, to be honest, after about 40 minutes my mind started to wander, as the movie just plodded along. A story about a guy with "multiple personalities," so to speak, someone who can't distinguish anymore between fact and fiction, and winds up thinking he's "the Brighton Strangler" should have been a lot more interesting than it was. At 67 total minutes, there is no excuse for this to be a boring movie.John Loder is good in the lead as "Reginald Parker/Edward Gray," but the story doesn't live up to his performance. It just sags, big-time, in that middle section. There are major plot holes in here, too. The guy plays a "famous" actor yet no one recognizes him. I bet if someone re-made this story, it could a chilling one.
Bynovekka1 John Loder plays Reginald Parker, an actor whose portrayal of a serial killer has made him the toast of London's theater district. During the height of the german blitz Parker has tirelessly played the part to sold out crowds seeking diversion from the horrors of world war 2.After nearly two years of constant work Parker is on the brink of exhaustion. When his wife and friends demand he take a break he agrees grudgingly but only after one last performance for on leave military personnel. That night Parker stays late at the theater to review some last minute additions to the script. As he reads german bombers attack London. A stray bomb strikes the theater causing the roof to collapse on the unfortunate actor. He survives but recieves a nasty blow to the head. The blow gives him partial amnesia allowing him to recall nothing save that of the part he has paractically lived for the last two years.Believing the details of the script are actual memories he comes to believe he is the Brighton Strangler. So it is off to Brighton where he begins hunting down those who resemble his victims from the play.The plot is a rather far fetched and the story sags in the middle. But John Loder's tormented transform from kindly actor to maniacal killer makes the film worth a look.