IMDb RATING
4.0/10
197
YOUR RATING
Government agent Dick Barton battles a ring of Nazi spies who are planning to poison the entire London water supply.Government agent Dick Barton battles a ring of Nazi spies who are planning to poison the entire London water supply.Government agent Dick Barton battles a ring of Nazi spies who are planning to poison the entire London water supply.
Photos
Farnham Baxter
- Roscoe
- (uncredited)
Ernest Borrow
- Joe Gilpin
- (uncredited)
Peter Brace
- Henchman
- (uncredited)
Jim Brady
- Henchman in Fist Fight
- (uncredited)
Arthur Bush
- Kurt Schuler
- (uncredited)
Ivor Danvers
- Snub
- (uncredited)
Colin Douglas
- Stark
- (uncredited)
Billy Howard
- Police Constable Jupp
- (uncredited)
Beatrice Kane
- Mrs. Betsy Horrock
- (uncredited)
Janice Lowthian
- Adele Reed
- (uncredited)
Eddie Powell
- Henchman
- (uncredited)
Alec Ross
- Tony Firth
- (uncredited)
Campbell Singer
- Sir George Cavendish
- (uncredited)
Morris Sweden
- Regan
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDick drives a 1947 Allard L1, reg. JGY 719.
- GoofsIn an attempt to inject tension at key points, some footage is clearly sped up; there's also some obvious heavy use of day-for-night filming.
- Quotes
Jean Hunter: It's no use Betsy, I can't stand it any longer. I'm going out to look for Dick.
- Crazy creditsIn homage to the parent BBC Light Programme radio series, the title is presaged with a dramatic voice-over: "Ladies and gentlemen - Dick Barton, Special Agent!"
- ConnectionsFollowed by Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949)
Featured review
Dick Barton, Not-so-special Agent.
Based on the popular B.B.C. radio serial, this first film in Hammer's Dick Barton series is a real disappointment, failing to capture the spirit of the character, the formula ruined by too much dumb humour and a script that relies on coincidence to drive the plot. It also suffers from terrible direction and clumsy editing, director Alfred J. Goulding's previous experience in quickie shorts and slapstick comedy not suited to the action/adventure genre.
The plot sees Barton (Don Stannard) and his sidekick Snowey White (George Ford) travelling to the fishing village of Echo Bay where they come up against Nazis who are planning to introduce deadly bacteria into the UK's water supplies. With very broad performances from both the baddies and Barton's companions from the outset, this is all way too silly to be genuinely exciting, and the script's contrivances only make things even harder to take seriously. The accidental delivery of lobsters to Barton and friends is possibly the worst offender - the discovery of valuables inside the shellfish conveniently tipping off the special agent that something is very wrong in Echo Bay - but there are plenty of other daft moments to spoil the film, including several lame attempts on Barton's life by a pair of bumbling henchman (who use a poison tipped dart - of the type found in pubs).
2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for this unintentionally amusing line uttered by the film's token babe Jean Hunter (Gillian Maude): "It's no use, Betsy... I can't stand this any longer. I'm going out to look for Dick."
The plot sees Barton (Don Stannard) and his sidekick Snowey White (George Ford) travelling to the fishing village of Echo Bay where they come up against Nazis who are planning to introduce deadly bacteria into the UK's water supplies. With very broad performances from both the baddies and Barton's companions from the outset, this is all way too silly to be genuinely exciting, and the script's contrivances only make things even harder to take seriously. The accidental delivery of lobsters to Barton and friends is possibly the worst offender - the discovery of valuables inside the shellfish conveniently tipping off the special agent that something is very wrong in Echo Bay - but there are plenty of other daft moments to spoil the film, including several lame attempts on Barton's life by a pair of bumbling henchman (who use a poison tipped dart - of the type found in pubs).
2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for this unintentionally amusing line uttered by the film's token babe Jean Hunter (Gillian Maude): "It's no use, Betsy... I can't stand this any longer. I'm going out to look for Dick."
- BA_Harrison
- Nov 7, 2020
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Dick Barton: Special Agent
- Filming locations
- Birdham Pool, Chichester, West Sussex, England, UK(yachting scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £20,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Dick Barton, Detective (1948) officially released in Canada in English?
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