| Kate Plus Ten | |
| Director: | Reginald Denham |
| Based On: | Kate Plus Ten by Edgar Wallace |
| Producer: | Richard Wainwright |
| Music: | Allan Gray |
| Cinematography: | Roy Kellino |
| Editing: | Inman Hunter |
| Studio: | Richard Wainwright Productions |
| Distributor: | General Film Distributors |
| Runtime: | 81 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Kate Plus Ten (also known as Queen of Crime) is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Reginald Denham and starring Jack Hulbert, Genevieve Tobin and Noel Madison.[1] [2] It was written by Jeffrey Dell and Jack Hulbert adapted from the 1917 Edgar Wallace novel Kate Plus Ten.
Kate Westhanger, the leader of a gang of criminals, works as secretary to an aristocrat allowing her to pick up vital information. However, the police soon become suspicious of her and Scotland Yard's Inspector Pemberton is sent on her trail.
The film was an independent production shot at Shepperton Studios.[3]
The final third of the film makes extensive use of railway locations. Among these, the main line between Bath and Westbury (Wiltshire) was employed, with a stolen train smashing through fake level crossing gates at Freshford station. The branch line through Limpley Stoke and Camerton was also featured, and a closed colliery in the Somerset coalfield was the location for the scene in which a steam locomotive crashes through wooden shed doors.[4]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A good thriller in a light vein."[5]
Britmovie called it a "light-hearted comedy-thriller," adding, "like so many Wallace stories logic takes a back seat, but the speeding train sequence generates some lively thrills, and Hulbert and Tobin craft a likeable onscreen chemistry. Tobin is wickedly delightful as Kate, and Hulbert, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeffrey Dell, gives an agreeable performance in spite of the artificiality of the role."[6]