{{Short description|1954 film directed by Maurice Elvey}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = The Harassed Hero | image = "The_Harassed_Hero"_(1954).jpg | caption = Guy Middleton and Joan Winmill Brown | director = Maurice Elvey | producer = Clive Nicholas | writer = Brock Williams | based_on = ''The Harassed Hero'' by Ernest Dudley | narrator = | starring = Guy Middleton<br> Joan Winmill Brown<br>Elwyn Brook-Jones | cinematography = Hone Glendinning | music = Frank Chacksfield | editing = Anne Barker | studio = Corsair Pictures | distributor = Associated British-Pathé | released = {{Film date|1954|07|26|df=yes}} | runtime = 61 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = }} '''''The Harassed Hero''''' is a 1954 British second feature ('B')<ref name="Chibnall">{{Cite book |last1=Chibnall |first1=Steve |title=''The British 'B' Film'' |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=BFI/Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=147}}</ref> comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Guy Middleton, Joan Winmill Brown and Elwyn Brook-Jones.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Harassed Hero |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150033181 |access-date=12 November 2025 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/35811|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115155413/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/35811|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-15|title=The Harassed Hero (1954)|publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> It was based on the 1954 novel of the same title by Ernest Dudley.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goble |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&q=the+harassed+hero+1954&pg=PA136 |title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film |date=1999 |publisher=De Gruyter Saur |others= |isbn=978-3-11-095194-3 |location= |oclc=868959494}}</ref>
== Plot == Wealthy hypochondriac (acute apprehension complex) bachelor Murray Selwyn has been ordered by his doctors to avoid stress, but finds himself face to face with a gang of counterfeiters. Murray has unwittingly come into possession of the printing plates the gang is after. His stress levels escalate further when Murray's nurse is kidnapped by the gang.
==Cast== * Guy Middleton as Murray Selwyn * Joan Winmill Brown as Nurse Brooks * Elwyn Brook-Jones as Logan * Mary Mackenzie as Estelle Logan * Harold Goodwin as Twigg * Joss Ambler as Dr. Grice * Clive Morton as Detective Inspector Archer * Hugh Moxey as Detective Sergeant Willis * Stafford Byrne * Gabrielle Brune * Gaylord Cavallaro as Logan's henchman Ken * Simone Lovell * Alfred Maron as Logan's henchman Pearce
==Production== The film was shot at Walton Studios and on location in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director John Stoll. ==Critical reception== ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "This film provides a comic hero, comic servant, comic crook, comic detective, comic doctor – everything, in fact, except authentic comic invention."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1954 |title=The Harassed Hero |volume=21 |issue=240 |pages=74 |id={{ProQuest|1305815921}} |magazine=The Monthly Film Bulletin}}</ref>
''Kine Weekly'' wrote: "Te picture punctuates farce with fights and chases, but never takes itself too seriously. Neither does it run to seed. Guy Middleton contributes a polished performance, as the dithery Murray, and Elwyn Brook Jones, Joan Winmill and Clive Morton head a useful and versatile supporting team. Moreover, the staging is elegant and enables it technically to compete against the best."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=18 March 1954 |title=The Harassed Hero |volume=444 |issue=2438 |pages=17 |id={{ProQuest|2732605513}} |magazine=Kine Weekly}}</ref>
''Picturegoer'' wrote: "Nonsense comedy? Yes, but made agreeable and entertaining by Guy Middleton, ideally cast as the asinine Murray."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=4 July 1954 |title=The Harassed Hero |volume=28 |issue= |pages=17 |id={{ProQuest|1705000980}} |magazine=Picturegoer}}</ref>
''TV Guide'' wrote, "silly comedy routines abound in this patented British farce."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Harassed Hero |url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-harassed-hero/review/125421/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406123301/https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-harassed-hero/125421/ |archive-date=6 April 2016 |work=TVGuide.com}}</ref>
Chibnall and McFarlane wrote in ''The British 'B' Film'' that Middleton "brought a touch of class" to the film.<ref name="Chibnall" />
==References== <references/>
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0047064}}
{{Maurice Elvey}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harassed Hero, The}} Category:1954 films Category:1954 comedy films Category:1954 English-language films Category:Films directed by Maurice Elvey Category:British comedy films Category:Films set in London Category:Films shot in London Category:Films shot at Nettlefold Studios Category:British black-and-white films Category:1954 British films Category:English-language comedy films