| The Brown Wallet | |
| Director: | Michael Powell |
| Producer: | Irving Asher |
| Based On: | short story by Stacy Aumonier |
| Starring: | Patric Knowles |
| Cinematography: | Basil Emmott |
| Studio: | Warner Brothers-First National Productions |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. |
| Runtime: | 68 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
The Brown Wallet is a 1936 British crime film, directed by Michael Powell and starring Patric Knowles. The Brown Wallet, adapted from a short story by Stacy Aumonier, was one of over 20 quota quickies directed by Powell between 1931 and 1936. It is among eleven of these films of which no extant print is known to survive, and its current status is "missing, believed lost".[1]
Publisher John Gillespie faces a financial crisis after his business partner skips town with all the firm's assets. Facing ruin, he reluctantly approaches a wealthy aunt for assistance but is met with a stony-faced refusal. Returning home in a taxi, he finds a wallet containing £2,000 left behind by a previous passenger. He takes the wallet, but rather than confiding in his wife he rents a room in which he secretes the money, telling her he needs the room for business purposes.
Shortly afterwards his aunt is found murdered, with her safe having been broken into and robbed. Gillespie is the prime suspect, and wary of incriminating himself with regard to the £2,000 and unwilling to face having to surrender the cash, his story is deemed unsatisfactory and he is arrested and charged with murder. However, a former employee of his aunt makes his own investigation into the case and discovers the real culprit. Gillespie is released, then discovers he has been bequeathed a large sum of money in his aunt's will. He can then return the wallet and the £2,000 to its rightful owner.