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The Case Of The Missing Scene

1951 , Norfolk (County)

Cat no. 213709

A Children's Entertainment Films feature set in the Norfolk Broads.

Set in and around the fictional Norfolk village of Poldyke, this production by Children's Entertainment Films (a branch of the Rank Organisation), follows the parallel exploits of a two-man camera crew from London and a group of inept poachers. Both groups are after the famed Bittern, and will stop at nothing to 'shoot' one of the birds. When the camera crew get in the way of the poachers, they also unknowingly capture the criminals on film. Despite stolen film and the occasional gunshot, the camera crew finally get their shots with the assistance of two local children, but will they solve the mystery of the poachers?

Featured Buildings

Denham Film Laboratories (later Deluxe), Denham Green

Keywords

Birds; Bitterns; Broads; Children; Feature film; Filmmaking; Poachers

Other Places

Denham Green, Buckinghamshire

Background Information

'The Case of the Missing Scene' was produced by Children's Entertainment Films, a short-lived arm of the Rank Organisation and forerunner to a broader and more successful production body, the Children's Film Foundation. The aim of these organisations was to supplant the unsuitably violent (and chiefly American) films screened at highly popular Saturday morning children's matinees, and replace them with locally produced films which often carried a moral message and were deemed more age appropriate. Among the cast were Noel Johnson (who played Crawford), Hilda Fennemore (Mrs Blackeney) and Campbell Singer (Film Producer), all of whom went on to have long careers in British television. Norman Pierce, who played the local PC named Sam, had more than thirty feature film credits to his name before the production. The most familiar face in 'The Case of the Missing Scene', however, is that of Peter Butterworth, noted for portraying the Meddling Monk, the first recurring Doctor Who villain (aside from the Daleks), but most famous for his perennial appearances as part of the Carry On ensemble, appearing in sixteen Carry On films beginning with 'Carry on Cowboy' (1965). 'The Case of the Missing Scene' was also the directorial debut of Don Chaffey, who directed a series of British features in a variety of genres throughout the 1950s, but is perhaps best known for fantasy and sci-fi films such as Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and One Million Years B.C. (1966), as well as family films made for Disney, including the British-shot Greyfriars Bobby (1961) and The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964), and the part-animated, part-live action Pete's Dragon (1977). As well as working in the cinema, Chaffey maintained a long and distinguished career in British and American television.

  • Production company : Gaumont-British Instructional Ltd

  • Production company : Children's Entertainment Films

  • Production company : J. Arthur Rank Company (presented by)

  • Distributor : General Film Distributors Ltd

  • Director : Don Chaffey

  • Producer : William D'Arcy (associate producer)

  • Script : Mary Cathcart Borer

  • Camera : Frank North

  • Camera : Donald Long (assistant)

  • Music : Jack Beaver

  • Sound : Peter Birch

  • Sound : Dave Howells

  • Other : Dr. Ludovic Koch (The Bittern was recorded by)

  • Other : Pat Morton (The business was handled by)

  • Editor : Cyril Randell

  • Tony Ivor Bowyer

  • Mary Suzanne Gibbs

  • Johnny Stephen Bourne

  • Crawford Noel Johnson

  • The Crook Tony Quinn

  • George Peter Butterworth

  • Mrs Blackeney Hilda Fennemore

  • Sam Norman Pierce

  • Film Producer Campbell Singer

  • Film Editor Geoffrey Bond

  • Station Porter Sam Kydd

Manifestations

The Case Of The Missing Scene

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