The Viper

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Directed by Roy William Neill, 1938

Claude Hulbert reprises his role as amateur detective, Cedric Gull, in this sequel to the previous year's hit comedy, The Vulture.

Another sticky moment for Stiffy (Hal Walters) and Cedric (Claude Hulbert)

Credits

Director Production Company Executive Producer Screenplay Photography Studio	R. William Neill Warner Brothers First National Productions Irving Asher Reginald Purdell, John Dighton, J.O.C. Orton Robert LaPresle Teddington Studios
Cast: Claude Hulbert (Cedric Gull); Betty Lynne (Gaby Toulong); Hal Walters (Stiffy Mason); Lesley Brook (Jenny); Fred Groves (Inspector Bradawl); Dino Galvani (The Viper); Boris Ranevsky (Carlos); Harfvey Braban, (Jagger); Reginald Purdell (BBC Announcer)
75 mins, 6,781 feet, sound, black & white.

Why are we so keen to find it?

A rare sequel on our list, The Viper was yet another chance to see Claude Hulbert in his popular role as hapless but keen amateur sleuth Cedric Gull. The Viper picked up from the end of the first film, The Vulture (also wanted), and focused on its most popular asset, namely Hulbert/Gull's penchant for disguises, thereby continuing a comic tradition that led, most famously, to Peter Sellers' 'Inspector Clouseau' in the Pink Panther series.

What's it about?

Taken from a review in Kinematograph Weekly, 3 March 1938:

Cedric Gull, detective, is called upon to solve two mysteries. Jenny, niece of his pal, Stiffy, has been accused of theft at the Droone Hotel, and at the same time, Gaby, a cabaret dancer, is being pursued by a desperado called the Viper, recently escaped from Devil's Island. Gull undertakes to take up both cases. Disguised, he descends on the hotel and finds Gaby, who recognises in the head waiter Carlos, one of the Viper's men. Gull and Stiffy take a hand in tracking down the gang and are soon rewarded by the appearance of the arch-criminal himself. In a slapstick finale during which Gull makes up as a dancer, the villains are trapped, a valuable diamond is discovered and Jenny freed from all suspicion.

Last seen?

The London trade show played on 1 March 1938, and the nationwide release seems to have followed soon after. The Viper's reviews were less favourable than those for The Vulture, and no other sequels were produced. It's likely that, following the poor critical reception of The Viper, the film wasn't released again after its initial run.

What else do we know about it?

Many of the cast and crew from The Vulture worked on this film, albeit in a slightly different arrangement. Hal Walters reprised his role as Gull's partner, one-time criminal Stiffy Mason. But Betty Lynne won top female billing, edging out the romantic lead in the first film, Lesley Brook, who was recast here as Stiffy's niece, Jenny.

Two of the original writers on The Vulture, Reginald Purdell and John Dighton, were joined on The Viper by J.O.C. Orton. Orton was part of the team behind the best Will Hay pictures of the 1930s, including Oh, Mr Porter! (1937) and Hey! Hey! USA (1938), while Dighton would go onto script some of Ealing's finest 40s and 50s films, contributing to Went the Day Well? (1942), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Man in the White Suit (1952). Reginald Purdell - who also acted and directed at Teddington - appears in The Viper as a BBC announcer.

The Vulture's director, Ralph Ince, died in 1937, so Roy William Neill - director/producer of Universal's 1940s Sherlock Holmes films - took up the reins.

Does anything survive?

Only a handful of production stills and one or two promotional materials used in the weekly trade magazines. Being a sequel, The Viper's magazine promotion was limited to a single page advert, suggesting a less vigorous push to sell the film than was given to its predecessor.

Reviews

The press had been quite gentle towards The Vulture but its sequel fared less well. Kinematograph Weekly was pretty hard: "Considerable expense has apparently gone in the production of gadgets and stunts for this picture which would have been better devoted to a more humorous story and funnier dialogue. The film finishes in a riot of flour paste and bottle-throwing, which no doubt still has a fascination for the groundlings... Very few [points of appeal], except to the thick and thin admirers of Claude Hulbert's type of comedy."

The Monthly Film Bulletin was equally critical: "There is nothing subtle about this theme; it is absurd and confusing... The slapstick episodes are embarrassing and though the photography is good, the direction is uninspiring."

It seems the familiarity of the film's premise was a major problem; Kinematograph Weekly complained that Hulbert's "tortuous disguises and absurd contretemps of a pseudo-criminologist have been over-worked in countless previous films, and this one breaks no new ground." The magazine's summary for exhibitors said it all: "Box-office appeal limited to indulgent patrons and star's fans."

Dylan Cave, Curator (Fiction), BFI National Archive

You can find more about British films of the late 1930s, including entries on surviving films and video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline. You can also view similar titles at the BFI Mediatheques.