{{Short description|1948 British film by Paul L. Stein}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = Counterblast | image = Counterblast_film_magazine_cover_(1948-2).png | caption = | director = Paul L. Stein | producer = Louis H. Jackson | writer = Guy Morgan <br /> Jack Whittingham | screenplay = | story = | based_on = | starring = Robert Beatty <br /> Mervyn Johns <br /> Nova Pilbeam <br /> Margaretta Scott | music = Hans May | cinematography = Moray Grant <br /> James Wilson | editing = Joseph Sterling | studio = British National Films | distributor = Pathé Pictures International | released = {{Film date|1948|05|18|df=yes}} | runtime = 99 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''Counterblast''''' (also known as '''''Devil's Plot''''') is a 1948 British thriller film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Robert Beatty, Mervyn Johns and Nova Pilbeam.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Counterblast |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150028085 |access-date=24 November 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=BFI Film & TV Database – ''Counterblast'' (1948)|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/30039|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114112450/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/30039|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 January 2009|publisher=BFI Film & TV Database|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> It was written by Guy Morgan and Jack Whittingham, and made by British National Films at Elstree Studios.<ref name="yule">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-lady-yule/|date=14 September 2025|access-date=14 September 2025|title=Forgotten British Film Moguls: Lady Yule}}</ref>

==Plot== A Nazi scientist escapes from prison, murders a leading professor and takes his place at a research laboratory, where he experiments with biological warfare with which he intends to wage the next war against Britain.

==Cast== * Robert Beatty as Doctor Paul Rankin * Mervyn Johns as Doctor Bruckner * Nova Pilbeam as Tracy Hart * Margaretta Scott as Sister Johnson * Sybille Binder as Martha Lert, Bruckner's housekeeper * Marie Lohr as Mrs Coles * Karel Stepanek as Professor Inman * Alan Wheatley as M.W. Kennedy * Gladys Henson as Mrs Plum * John Salew as Padre Latham * Anthony Eustrel as Doctor Richard Forrester * Carl Jaffe as Heinz * Ronald Adam as Colonel Ingram * Martin Miller as Van Hessian * Aubrey Mallalieu as Major Walsh * Olive Sloane as Ingram's housekeeper

==Production== The movie was part of a new film slate for British National.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/kinematograph-weekly/1947/Kinematograph%20Weekly%20%232102%20%281947-08-14%29%20%28BNA%29/page/22/mode/1up?|title=British National new programme|date=14 August 1947|page=22|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly}}</ref>

Filming started in September 1947 under the title ''Death of a Rat'' and ''So Died a Rat''. Opening scenes were shot at Colchester in an actual POW camp.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|url=https://archive.org/details/kinematograph-weekly/1947/Kinematograph%20Weekly%20%232105%20%281947-09-04%29%20%28BNA%29/mode/1up?|date=4 September 1947|page=18|title=British studios}}</ref> The film was shot over eight weeks.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=''So Died a Rat'' in eight weeks|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|url=https://archive.org/details/kinematograph-weekly/1947/Kinematograph%20Weekly%20%232116%20%281947-11-20%29%20%28BNA%29/page/16/mode/1up?|date=20 November 1947|page=16}}</ref>

==Reception== ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "The story, which is not only topical but which also seems rather disturbingly plausible, offers plenty of scope to Mervyn Johns to display to the full his dramatic ability, and as Bruckner he makes the most of his opportunities.&nbsp;... Robert Beatty renders strong Sipport as Rankin and Nova Pilbeam is well cast as Tracy."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1948 |title=Counterblast |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305809970 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=15 |issue=169 |pages=91 |id={{ProQuest|1305809970}} |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

''Kine Weekly'' wrote: "Espionage romantic melodrama, built on solid rather than imaginative stage lines.&nbsp;... A trifle far-fetched and over-long, it nevertheless holds the interest and sees that poetic justice spectacularly overtakes the villain in the end. The stars and supporting players are more than equal to their task and the staging has polish."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=27 May 1948 |title=Counterblast |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2732615664 |journal=Kine Weekly |volume=375 |issue=2143 |pages=16 |id={{ProQuest|2732615664}} |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

''Picture Show'' wrote: "Can you believe in a German scientist escaping from a P.O.W. camp in England, murdering an English scientist, just arrived, from a ten-year stay in Australia, and taking his identity, to hold a responsible job at a scientific research station while he secretly continues his studies in bacterial warfare in preparation for the next Nazi war? If you can, you will probably enjoy this melodrama, for it is efficiently acted and convincingly set."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=10 July 1948 |title=Counterblast |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1880318061 |journal=Picture Show |volume=52 |issue=1345 |pages=10 |id={{ProQuest|1880318061}} |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Reviewing the film during its US release in 1953 ''Variety'' called it "a heavy-handed British meller that is so filled with homicide it is a wonder the censors did not do much heavier pruning. Despite the pic’s many flaws, Paul L. Stein’s smooth direction manages to maintain siderable suspense."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=The Devil's Plot|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1953-07-08_191_5/mode/1up?|date=8 July 1953|page=16}}</ref>

In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Holes in plot spoil nicely constructed idea."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=201}}</ref>

''The Radio Times Guide to Films'' gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Among the first films to consider Nazi experiments into germ warfare, this brisk British thriller boasts the interesting premise of turning a wanted war criminal into an accidental hero.&nbsp;... This was an ambitious picture for its time."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=204}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0040249|Counterblast}}

{{Paul L. Stein}}

Category:1948 films Category:1948 English-language films Category:Films directed by Paul L. Stein Category:British thriller films Category:Films set in London Category:Films set in England Category:Films shot at British National Studios Category:Mad scientist films Category:British black-and-white films Category:1948 thriller films Category:Films with screenplays by Jack Whittingham Category:1948 drama films Category:1948 British films Category:Films scored by Hans May Category:English-language thriller films