User Reviews

A criminal called The Tiger indulges in murder and mayhem while framing a young man Robert Brierly for forgery as he covets Robert's fiancee May Edwards. When Robert comes out of prison on parole The Tiger in the disguise of a philanthropist tries to use him to rob a safe. It's another entertaining Tod Slaughter film with some lively dialogue and a faux Dickensian atmosphere. The pleasure garden scenes are particularly good.

Tod is The Tiger of course and gives another full blooded performance, laughing evilly and brimming with lechery towards the young singer May, never missing an opportunity to kiss her lips even when she is unconscious. The rest of the cast are adequate. Apart from Tod the best acting comes from Arthur West Payne as the boy called Sam who is hilarious in all of his scenes. He was a very natural child actor who only made five films which is a pity.

It's a Tod Slaughter movie and if you are a fan of him and his style of performance you won't be disappointed.

Hollywood may have had Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi as masters of the Golden Age of Horror but Britain could point with pride to Tod Slaughter who single handedly kept the British horror industry afloat during the 1930s. Slaughter didn't indulge in subtleties - not when a leer or a wink would do. His popularity in Britain remained an enigma to American audiences of the 1930s who didn't understand the barnstorming melodramas of the gas light era where Slaughter had cut his teeth. He was a villain of the boo!! hiss!! variety and was over 50 when he made his debut in "Maria Marten". When he wasn't playing evil squires, gleefully clubbing children or tripping up the elderly, he was "The Spinebreaker" or in this movie "The Tiger".

Directed as usual by George King, it has all London being in the grip of fear from "The Tiger" - a dangerous jewel thief who cheerily kills anyone who stands in his way. No one seems to know what he looks like but that doesn't stop the chief constable vowing to bring him in one of these days.

After that rousing beginning the film falls flat. To take the heat off himself, Slaughter then disguises himself as the respectable Theopolous Wake, founder of "The Good Samaritan Help Society". A bit too respectable for fans of Slaughter. The charity depends on the benevolence of wealthy elderly people who are looking for a society to leave their fortunes to. Wake then sends his henchmen out to speedily help them to their deaths but the viewers don't witness these scenes, only Wake giving his orders - and not in the cheerful way Slaughter usually does. As usual there is a girl who doesn't return Wake's affections and he sees to it that her fiancée - the "ticket of leave man" (a parolee in Victorian terms) of the title faces all the stumbling blocks that Wake can put in his way on his release from prison.

Another problem is that the romance seems to take centre stage, that when Slaughter appears, it is as the benevolent Wake and he is not leering and ogling at the camera, indicating to the audience that this is only a disguise and he will soon be up to his dastardly tricks in no time. By the finish, when he is caught falling into a newly dug grave (which he had prepared for the affable Bob - just in case he decides not to rob his employer after all), Wake has notched up a few crimes - garroting his right hand man, leaving a henchman to be burned alive, to say nothing of indicating that the pure Miss Edwards is no better than she should be!!! This is just not one of Tod's best - not in the same league as "The Face at the Window".

Not exactly a departure for Tod Slaughter, who carved an entire career out of playing the same kind of Victorian villain, but if you're a fan of his hammy, over-the-top acting, this one will definitely keep you happy, the star leering menacingly and cackling with glee as if his life depended on it.

This time around, Slaughter plays a ruthless criminal called The Tiger, who garottes anyone who gets in his way. As is fairly standard for a Slaughter character, The Tiger takes a shine to a pretty young woman, singer May (Marjorie Taylor), and concocts a devious plan to get her in his arms, in this case starting with framing her fiancé Robert Brierly (John Warwick) for forgery. When he is eventually released from jail on a 'ticket of leave', Robert pretends to be May's brother and finds employment at a bank, but finds his life further complicated by The Tiger, who is planning to rob the bank, and who has been trying to worm his way into May's affections.

I've not seen all of Slaughter's films (I'm working on it), but The Tiger has got to be one of the actor's most malicious and cunning creations, cleverly avoiding capture at every turn, at least until the end, where a silly mistake leads him into a trap. In typical Slaughter fashion, the villain winds up holding everyone at gunpoint, but slips and falls into an empty grave, breaking his neck. It's predictable nonsense, for sure, but the star's maniacal performance once again ensures that it's a lot of fun.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for the hilarious stereotypical Jewish forger Melter Moss (Frank Cochran) - Oy, oy, what a shemozzle!

This is the tale of "The Tiger" (Tod Slaughter), a notorious British criminal who is actually a seemingly kind nobleman aiding convicted felons in finding jobs and framing them for crimes he committed. It's up to one of them to expose him as the nasty, foul villain he is, and that's where the fun comes in watching this sometimes slow, but memorable entry in the small number of films that Slaughter made in the 1930's and 40's. Like other ones, it is complete formula. The audience sees Slaughter from the start committing these nefarious acts, and then he's seen being a society do-gooder, trying to charm the young heroine away from the handsome hero (one of the "ticket of leave men") who gets the evidence to expose Slaughter. This leads to the inevitable revelation and the clever way in which villainous Slaughter meets his fate. He gets a great line, too, at that point, ironic considering what happens afterwards.

Of course, there's the large number of sinister laughs Slaughter gets to bust out with, especially when dealing with one of his own group whom he leaves behind to face a horrific fate. That's the key scene of his villainy here, and Slaughter is having a blast. He's the type of actor who seems to be twirling his mustache even if he doesn't have one, and as badly made as his films are, they are a lot of fun. This isn't quite as sinister as some of his other films (outside the one scene where he plots a horrific murder with the unknowing victim), having been quite more evil in "Sweeney Todd" and "Crimes at Dark House", a low budget version of "The Woman in White". Some of Slaughter's films are only available in their public domain badly deteriorated prints, but this one seems to have been restored, so it looks pristine, and almost lavish. Hopefully the others will follow suit.

The first thing to be said is that Slaughter was this brave actor's real name, and not a pseudonym. For some years, as a matter of fact for most of his career either on stage or on screen, he got typecast as a villain; then, he was rightly forgotten. Nowadays' movie buffs barely know about him. In fact, there is not much to be known. In this movie he plays 'The Tiger', i.e., the most dangerous killer in London; of course, more danger could come from the movie's loose silliness. The script provides for some supposedly funny scenes; there are witty lines, plenty of lousy singing, several murders, the British idea of a Grand Guignol from two of the ablest masters of that form—the director King and his actor, Slaughter. I can testify I enjoy these Slaughter/ King movies, as I enjoy the Sexton Blake fantasies, either with Slaughter or without.

Slaughter was one of those oldie actors who came late in the movies biz but nonetheless managed to establish some fame. Slaughter began making pictures when he was 49.

The Tiger resembles the policeman hunting for him. The 'ticket of leave man' is a jailbird who works at a garden, is fired when his past resurfaces, and then killed by The Tiger. You see, The Tiger is not a murderer to be messed with.

In this '38 shocker, Slaughter was already 53 yrs., and in the midst of his many collaborations with director King; others, anyway, specify '37 as the year of TOLM's release.

TICKET OF LEAVE MAN has much, perhaps most of what's characteristic to the '30s British genre cinema. Which genre cinema I find endearing. It's perhaps sometimes a bit weaker and certainly clumsier than the Hollywoodian counterpart, yeah, but also refreshingly different.

I generally tend to write about all things Tod Slaughter, George King, Sexton Blake, Delmer Daves; so take your time for more reviews!