Basil Radford

Basil Radford

Born: June 25, 1897
Died: October 20, 1952
in Chester, England, UK
Arthur Basil Radford (25 June 1897 – 20 October 1952) was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s. He is probably best remembered for his appearances alongside Naunton Wayne as one half of Charters and Caldicott, two cricket-obsessed Englishmen who appeared in several films from 1938 to 1949, most famously in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes.

Movies for Basil Radford...

Title: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Character: Charters (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: October 2, 1955
Type: TV
A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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The Galloping Major
Title: The Galloping Major
Character: Major Arthur Hill
Released: May 7, 1951
Type: Movie
A syndicate is set up to buy a racehorse, but they end up buying the wrong one by mistake. Unfortunately the horse is useless on the flat, so they try entering him as a jumper.
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Ha'penny Breeze
Title: Ha'penny Breeze
Character: Shopkeeper (uncredited)
Released: December 30, 1950
Type: Movie
A demobbed serviceman finds that his village has fallen on hard times. With the help of family, friends and the villagers he enters his boat in a yacht race. Winning will mean orders for new boats and life for the village.
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Chance of a Lifetime
Title: Chance of a Lifetime
Character: Dickinson
Released: April 24, 1950
Type: Movie
The workers in a small plough factory take over the firm, but when a large order falls through, the old management come back to help out.
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Passport to Pimlico
Title: Passport to Pimlico
Character: Gregg
Released: October 26, 1949
Type: Movie
When an unexploded WWII bomb is accidentally detonated in Pimlico, it reveals a treasure trove and documents proving that the region is in fact part of Burgundy, France and thus foreign territory. The British government attempts to regain control by setting up border controls and cutting off services to the area.
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Whisky Galore!
Title: Whisky Galore!
Character: Captain Paul Waggett
Released: June 16, 1949
Type: Movie
Based on a true story. The name of the real ship, that sunk Feb 5 1941 - during WWII - was S/S Politician. Having left Liverpool two days earlier, heading for Jamaica, it sank outside Eriskay, The Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in bad weather, containing 250,000 bottles of whisky. The locals gathered as many bottles as they could, before the proper authorities arrived, and even today, bottles are found in the sand or in the sea every other year.
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Stop Press Girl
Title: Stop Press Girl
Character: The Mechanical Type
Released: June 2, 1949
Type: Movie
A young woman leaves her backwards hometown to go to London to find a runaway suitor. What she doesn't know is that she has inherited a strange ability; if she's in the vicinity of a machine for more than fifteen minutes, it stops working.
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It's Not Cricket
Title: It's Not Cricket
Character: Maj. Bright
Released: April 1, 1949
Type: Movie
Kicked out of Army Intelligence, a pair of upper class twits set up as private detectives. The result is refined English chaos. " This is the regettable story of two Drones who didn't even know their own Zones. It starts in Germany, gets nowhere and stops at nothing." Radford and Wayne, cashiered from the army when they let a captured Nazi escape, become private detectives who later get involved with the same German and a missing diamond ...
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Helter Skelter
Title: Helter Skelter
Character: Maj. Bright
Released: January 7, 1949
Type: Movie
A detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping.
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Quartet
Title: Quartet
Character: Henry Garnet
Released: October 26, 1948
Type: Movie
Somerset Maugham introduces four of his tales in this anthology film: "The Facts of Life," "The Alien Corn," "The Kite," and "The Colonel's Lady."
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The Winslow Boy
Title: The Winslow Boy
Character: Desmond Curry
Released: September 24, 1948
Type: Movie
In pre-WW1 England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
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A Girl in a Million
Title: A Girl in a Million
Released: October 28, 1946
Type: Movie
A man gets divorced from a nagging wife meets a girl in a million. Or is she?
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The Captive Heart
Title: The Captive Heart
Character: Major Ossy Dalrymple
Released: April 29, 1946
Type: Movie
A series of stories about the lives and loves of nine men in a Prisoner of War Camp over five years. Location shooting in the British occupied part of Germany adds believability. The main story is of Hasek (Redgrave) a Czech soldier who needs to keep his identity a secret from the Nazis, to do this he poses as a dead English Officer and corresponds with the man's wife. Upon liberation they meet and decide to continue their lives together. The other inmates' stories are revealed episodically.
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Dead of Night
Title: Dead of Night
Character: George Parratt (Segment "The Golfing Story")
Released: September 9, 1945
Type: Movie
Architect Walter Craig, seeking the possibility of some work at a country farmhouse, soon finds himself once again stuck in his recurring nightmare. Dreading the end of the dream that he knows is coming, he must first listen to all the assembled guests' own bizarre tales.
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The Way to the Stars
Title: The Way to the Stars
Character: 'Tiny' Williams
Released: June 16, 1945
Type: Movie
Life on a British bomber base, and the surrounding towns, from the opening days of the Battle of Britain, to the arrival of the Americans, who join in the bomber offensive. The film centres around Pilot Officer Peter Penrose, fresh out of a training unit, who joins the squadron, and quickly discovers about life during war time. He falls for Iris, a young girl who lives at the local hotel, but he becomes disillusioned about marriage, when the squadron commander dies in a raid, and leaves his wife, the hotel manageress, with a young son to bring up. As the war progresses, Penross comes to terms that he has survived, while others have been killed.
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Dear Octopus
Title: Dear Octopus
Character: Kenneth
Released: September 20, 1943
Type: Movie
Three generations of a family gather together to celebrate a golden wedding anniversary, while the family secretary has the unenviable task of smoothing out all the deep-set hostilities and jealousies.
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Millions Like Us
Title: Millions Like Us
Character: Charters
Released: June 1, 1943
Type: Movie
When Celia Crowson is called up for war service, she hopes for a glamorous job in one of the services, but as a single girl, she is directed into a factory making aircraft parts. Here she meets other girls from all different walks of life and begins a relationship with a young airman.
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London Scrapbook
Title: London Scrapbook
Character: Himself
Released: September 30, 1942
Type: Movie
Propaganda short showing how London is coping with World War II.
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Unpublished Story
Title: Unpublished Story
Character: Lamb
Released: August 10, 1942
Type: Movie
Morale-boosting story released in the middle of World War II. A journalist uncovers a peace organisation at the centre of disreputable dealings.
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The Next of Kin
Title: The Next of Kin
Character: Careless Talker on Train
Released: June 15, 1942
Type: Movie
Wartime propaganda piece giving the warning "Be like Dad, Keep Mum". A gossipy housewife is overheard talking about what her son is doing by a Nazi spy.
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Flying Fortress
Title: Flying Fortress
Character: Captain Wilkinson
Released: June 13, 1942
Type: Movie
Drama written in flames and told with the staccato of canon-fire!
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The Flying Squad
Title: The Flying Squad
Character: Sederman
Released: October 12, 1940
Type: Movie
Inspector Bradley of Scotland Yard is on the trail of the murderous ringleader of a smuggling organization in London.
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Crook's Tour
Title: Crook's Tour
Character: Hawtrey Charters
Released: September 3, 1940
Type: Movie
Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East. After visiting Saudi Arabia they find themselves in Bagdad where they are mistaken by a group of German spies for the messengers who are to carry a song record by beautiful singer La Palermo which contains secret instructions of the German Intelligence. Realizing their error, the German spies follow Charters and Caldicott to Istanbul and Budapest, trying to eliminate them and retrieve the record.
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Night Train to Munich
Title: Night Train to Munich
Character: Charters
Released: August 31, 1940
Type: Movie
Czechoslovakia, March 1939, on the eve of World War II. As the German invaders occupy Prague, inventor Axel Bomasch manages to flee and reach England; but those who need to put his knowledge at the service of the Nazi war machine, in order to carry out their evil plans of destruction, will stop at nothing to capture him.
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Girl in the News
Title: Girl in the News
Character: Doctor Threadgrove
Released: August 28, 1940
Type: Movie
An elderly lady manages to sneak some pills away from her nurse and dies of an overdose. The nurse is tried for murder and acquitted. Some time later the nurse, under a new name and identity, cares for a patient who also dies of an overdose. When her real identity comes out, suspicions arouses.
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Just William
Title: Just William
Character: Mr. Sidway
Released: July 20, 1940
Type: Movie
A rascal child recruits his friends as assistants to help his father to get elected to the city council. Sadly, the children accidentally helped two jewel thieves to escape. They feel sorry about this, and then, to redeem themselves, the kids begin investigating a rival candidates conspiracy. Their involvement causes the boy's father to win the elections.
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The Girl Who Forgot
Title: The Girl Who Forgot
Character: Mr. Barradine
Released: February 24, 1940
Type: Movie
A young women under a lot of pressure in her life decides to take a train trip to mellow out, but is suddenly stricken with a case of amnesia. A con artist takes advantage...
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The Four Just Men
Title: The Four Just Men
Character: (uncredited)
Released: June 1, 1939
Type: Movie
The Four Men of the title are British WWI veterans who decide to work secretly against enemies of the country. They aren't above a bit of murder or sabotage to serve their ends, but they consider themselves to be true patriots.
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Jamaica Inn
Title: Jamaica Inn
Character: Lord George
Released: May 11, 1939
Type: Movie
In coastal Cornwall, England, during the early 19th Century, a young woman who's come there to visit her aunt, discovers that she's married an innkeeper who's a member of a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecking and murder for profit.
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She Couldn't Say No
Title: She Couldn't Say No
Character: Lord Pilton
Released: April 20, 1939
Type: Movie
A woman arranges a burglary to try to recover a stolen diary with compromising details written in it.
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Spies of the Air
Title: Spies of the Air
Character: Bill Madison
Released: March 30, 1939
Type: Movie
Set just before the outbreak of WWII, this is the story of a test pilot who works for the (unnamed) enemy. Made in 1939, by the time it was released in 1940, war had been declared.
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Let's Be Famous
Title: Let's Be Famous
Character: Watson
Released: March 22, 1939
Type: Movie
An Irishman sets out to become famous as a singer on the radio. Due to a mix up he is instead entered as a contestant on a quiz show.
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Trouble Brewing
Title: Trouble Brewing
Character: Guest at Madame Berdi's
Released: March 1, 1939
Type: Movie
Ealing comedy starring music hall star George Formby. An eager newspaper reporter (Formby) goes undercover to expose a gang of counterfeiters. Posing as a wrestler and waiter in his investigative efforts, George proves a greater menace to public order than the criminals he is chasing.
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Climbing High
Title: Climbing High
Character: Reggie Baird
Released: October 31, 1938
Type: Movie
Wealthy Nicky finds himself engaged to gold-digger Lady Constance, but he really loves scatty model Diana. Complications, slapstick and mountaineering are the result.
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The Lady Vanishes
Title: The Lady Vanishes
Character: Charters
Released: October 7, 1938
Type: Movie
On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris befriends elderly Miss Froy. When the train resumes, Iris suffers a bout of unconsciousness and wakes to find the old woman has disappeared. The other passengers ominously deny Miss Froy ever existed, so Iris begins to investigate with another traveler and, as the pair sleuth, romantic sparks fly.
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Convict 99
Title: Convict 99
Character: Deputy Governor
Released: September 26, 1938
Type: Movie
A disgraced school master, Benjamin Twist, is mistaken for a tough prison governor and assigned the charge of a prison for particularly hardened criminals. Believing he is being sent to a school rather than a prison, he celebrates accordingly only to find that his drunkenness accidently lands him on the wrong side of the prison bars. The Governorship is eventually restored to him, and he sets about popularising himself amongst the convicts by turning a blind eye to their shady dealings.
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Young and Innocent
Title: Young and Innocent
Character: Erica's Uncle Basil
Released: November 1, 1937
Type: Movie
Robert Tisdall finds on the beach the corpse of a woman he knew. Others wrongly conclude that he is the murderer. Fleeing, he desperately attempts to prove that he is not the killer. A young woman becomes embroiled in the effort.
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When Thief Meets Thief
Title: When Thief Meets Thief
Character: Defending Counsel
Released: January 1, 1937
Type: Movie
A London cat burglar falls for the girlfriend of a stockbroker who used to be his partner.
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Dishonour Bright
Title: Dishonour Bright
Character: Henry Crane
Released: September 21, 1936
Type: Movie
A man is cited as the co-respondent in a divorce case, but is cheerfully unashamed when he appears in court.
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Broken Blossoms
Title: Broken Blossoms
Character: Mr. Reed
Released: May 20, 1936
Type: Movie
A Chinese missionary comes to England. He helps a young girl ill-treated by her father. A remake of D. W. Griffith's Masterpiece.
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Foreign Affaires
Title: Foreign Affaires
Character: Basil Mallory
Released: November 21, 1935
Type: Movie
An ageing aristocrat schemes to secure his dwindling finances by any means - fair or foul!
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A Southern Maid
Title: A Southern Maid
Character: Tom
Released: March 1, 1934
Type: Movie
A young Spanish woman marries a lowly Englishman, rather than the aristocrat her father had intended, much to his displeasure.
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Leave It to Smith
Title: Leave It to Smith
Character: Sir John Moynton
Released: September 13, 1933
Type: Movie
A pair of con men in Monte Carlo attach themselves to a nouveau rich American snob with a weakness for titles...
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There Goes the Bride
Title: There Goes the Bride
Character: Rudolph (uncredited)
Released: October 25, 1932
Type: Movie
A businessman's daughter runs away from an arranged marriage, only to find herself penniless and suspected of theft after she becomes the victim of a bag thief in the train. When she refuses to tell him who she really is, her accuser decides to take her home where he can keep an eye on her until 12 o'clock the next day, the time at which she has calculated that it will be safe to tell the truth! But when his fiancée arrives unexpectedly and then his 'guest' is mistaken for her, it all gets rather embarrassing...
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Seven Days Leave
Title: Seven Days Leave
Character: Corporal
Released: January 24, 1930
Type: Movie
In London, during WWI, a lonely woman who wants to feel a part of the war effort pretends to her friends to have a son fighting in the war. She is shocked when he shows up on her doorstep, and they make an agreement that he will pretend to be her son. "Seven Days Leave" is a screen adaption of James M. Barrie's play, "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals."
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Barnum Was Right
Title: Barnum Was Right
Character: Standish
Released: September 22, 1929
Type: Movie
Freddie owns a failing old hotel. To attract new business he spreads the rumor that there's pirate treasure hidden somewhere in the building.