{{Infobox film | name = Passing Shadows | image = Passing_Shadows_film_Opening_titles_(1934).jpg | alt = Opening titles | caption = | director = Leslie S. Hiscott | producer = Herbert Smith | writer = Michael Barringer | narrator = | starring = Edmund Gwenn <br> Barry MacKay <br> Aileen Marson | music = | cinematography = Alex Bryce | editing = | studio = British Lion | distributor = Fox Film | released = {{Film date|1934|05|02|df=y}} | runtime = 67 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = | gross = }} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Use British English|date=June 2016}} '''''Passing Shadows''''' is a 1934 British mystery film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Edmund Gwenn, Barry MacKay and Aileen Marson.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Passing Shadows |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150040991 |access-date=20 February 2026 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> it was written by Michael Barringer.

==Plot== During a train journey, chemist Jim Lawrence is attacked by a pick-pocket and thinks that during the ensuing struggle he has accidentallty shot the villain dead. Terrified, he keeps quiet about the affair, but eventually confesses to the police. He then discovers that he has been used by the robber as part of a ruse.

==Cast== * Edmund Gwenn as David Lawrence * Barry MacKay as Jim Lawrence * Aileen Marson as Mary Willett * D. A. Clarke-Smith as stranger * Viola Lyel as Mrs. Willett * Wally Patch as Sergeant * John Turnbull as Inspector Goodall * Barbara Everest as Mrs. Lawrence * Beatrice Marsden as Mrs. Smith

== Production == The film was made as Beaconsfield Studios as a quota quickie<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wood |first=Linda |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-british-films-1927-1939.pdf |title=British Films, 1927–1939 |publisher=British Film Institute |year=1986 |pages=83 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016015016/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-british-films-1927-1939.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2022}}</ref> with sets designed by Norman G. Arnold.

==Reception==

''The Daily Film Renter'' wrote: "Uninspired direction, development somewhat improbable and denouement far-fetched. Gwenn convincing as father, but remainder of cast prone to overact. Eventual straightening out of tangle should, however, be to liking of less critical audiences, film qualifying as adequate second feature for small provincial halls."<ref>{{Cite journal|date=4 May 1934|title=Passing Shadows|id={{ProQuest|2594589682}}|magazine=The Daily Film Renter|volume=|issue=2239|pages=10}}</ref>

''Kine Weekly'' wrote: "The plot of this crime drama certainly reveals ingenuity, but the leisurely treatment prevents it from registering as it should. It is pieced together so deliberately that the mind of the audience outstrips the action, consequently a good deal of suspense is lost. That which remains, however, has some dramatic quality, sufficient to carry the film into the two-feature programme class."<ref>{{Cite journal|date=10 May 1934|title=Passing Shadows|id={{ProQuest|2338111867}}|magazine=Kine Weekly|volume=207|issue=1412|pages=26}}</ref>

''Picturegoer'' wrote: "There is a certain amount of ingenuity in this story&nbsp;... It is, however, much too slowly developed, and the treatment renders the workings of the plot too transparent to grip to any extent. Barry Mackay is fair as the chemist, and Edmund Gwenn gives a sound characterisation as his father. As the robber, D. A. Clarke Smith is well cast, and Aileen Marson is quite effective as the chemist's fiancée. The best work of all comes from Wally Patch – as an over-enthusiastic and dumb police sergeant."<ref>{{Cite journal|date=8 October 1934|title=Passing Shadows|id={{ProQuest|1777232190}}|magazine=Picturegoer|volume=4|issue=|pages=36}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0025631}}

{{Leslie S. Hiscott}}

Category:1934 films Category:British mystery films Category:1934 English-language films Category:Films directed by Leslie S. Hiscott Category:Films shot at Beaconsfield Studios Category:Quota quickies Category:British black-and-white films Category:1934 mystery films Category:1934 British films Category:English-language mystery films