The Man Behind the Mask

The Man Behind the Mask
The Man Behind the Mask
	U.S. campaign book
Directed by	Michael Powell
Written by	Jack Byrd (adaptation); Syd Courtenay; Stanley Haynes; Ian Hay (dialogue);
Based on	the novel The Chase of the Golden Plate; by Jacques Futrelle
Produced by	Joe Rock
Starring	Hugh Williams; Jane Baxter; Maurice Schwartz;
Cinematography	Ernest Palmer
Edited by	Sam Simmonds
Music by	Cyril Ray
Production; company	Joe Rock Productions
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	24 August 1936;
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Man Behind the Mask is a 1936 British mystery film directed by Michael Powell and starring Hugh Williams, Jane Baxter, Ronald Ward, Maurice Schwartz, George Merritt, Henry Oscar and Peter Gawthorne.^[1] A man assaults and switches places with another at a masked ball, and then attempts a major theft – casting suspicion on the original man.^[2]

Written by

Based on

the novel The Chase of the Golden Plate
by Jacques Futrelle

Produced byJoe Rock

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The Man Behind the Mask was produced by Joe Rock, for Joe Rock Productions. It was made at Rock Studios, Elstree.^[3]

The Man Behind the Mask was missing from the BFI National Archive, and was one of three Powell films included on the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" list of lost films.^[4] It is the last of Powell's "quota quickies".^[4]

A print of the American release, titled Behind the Mask, has been found, but it is a cut version of the original UK film.^[5]

Cast