# The Silent Passenger > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Silent_Passenger > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Silent_Passenger.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silent_Passenger > Source revision: 1339472134 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1935 British film The Silent Passenger Opening titles Directed by Reginald Denham Written by Basil Mason Based on a story by Dorothy L. Sayers Produced by Hugh Perceval Starring John Loder Peter Haddon Cinematography Jan Stallich Edited by Thorold Dickinson Music by Percival Mackey Release date 11 November 1935 (1935-11-11) (UK) Running time 54 minutes 9 seconds Country United Kingdom Language English ***The Silent Passenger*** is a 1935 British [black-and-white](/source/Black-and-white) [mystery film](/source/Mystery_film) directed by [Reginald Denham](/source/Reginald_Denham) and starring [John Loder](/source/John_Loder_(actor)), [Peter Haddon](/source/Peter_Haddon) and [Lilian Oldland](/source/Lilian_Oldland).[1] It was written by [Basil Mason](/source/Basil_Mason) based on an original story written by [Dorothy L. Sayers](/source/Dorothy_L._Sayers) specifically for the screen. It was produced at [Ealing Studios](/source/Ealing_Studios), London. ## Plot Maurice Windermere, a [blackmailer](/source/Blackmail), is absconding to France with Mollie Ryder, one of his victims. While waiting for the train to take them to the cross Channel ferry, he is murdered by the husband of another one of his victims, railway detective Henry Camberley. Bridge engineer John Ryder, Mollie's husband, jealously searching for her, breaks into Windermere's room just after Camberley has killed Windermere and hidden him in a trunk. Ryder assaults Camberley, who he assumes is Windermere, and demands the tickets Windermere purchased for himself and Mollie, intending to surprise his wife by taking Windermere's place on the trip abroad. Camberley places the trunk containing Windermere's body with Windermere's other luggage, which Ryder obligingly takes with him on his journey to France. Windermere's body is discovered in Windermere's trunk when Ryder, using Windermere's tickets, attempts to go through French customs. The French police assume he murdered the rival for his wife's affections and return him to England by the next ferry. Fortunately for Ryder, amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey, who already suspected Windermere of blackmail, followed Windermere's trail onto the boat train where he struck up an acquaintance with Mollie and John Ryder. Back in England Lord Peter sets about proving his newfound friend's innocence, using Ryder as "bait" to flush out the real killer and solve the murder. ## Cast - [John Loder](/source/John_Loder_(actor)) as John Ryder - [Peter Haddon](/source/Peter_Haddon) as [Lord Peter Wimsey](/source/Lord_Peter_Wimsey) - [Lilian Oldland](/source/Lilian_Oldland) as Mollie Ryder (billed as Mary Newland) - [Donald Wolfit](/source/Donald_Wolfit) as Henry Camberley - [Austin Trevor](/source/Austin_Trevor) as [Chief Inspector Parker](/source/Charles_Parker_(detective)) - [Leslie Perrins](/source/Leslie_Perrins) as Maurice Windermere - [Aubrey Mather](/source/Aubrey_Mather) as [Bunter](/source/Mervyn_Bunter) - [Robb Wilton](/source/Robb_Wilton) as porter - [Ralph Truman](/source/Ralph_Truman) as Saunders - Ann Codrington as desk clerk - George De Warfaz as Chief of French Police - [Annie Esmond](/source/Annie_Esmond) as old lady passenger with Pekinese dogs - [Dorice Fordred](/source/Dorice_Fordred) as Camberley's accomplice - [Vincent Holman](/source/Vincent_Holman) as works manager - [Gordon McLeod](/source/Gordon_McLeod_(actor)) as Commissioner - [Frederick Burtwell](/source/Frederick_Burtwell) (uncredited) - Percy Rhodes (uncredited) ## Reception *[The Daily Film Renter](/source/The_Daily_Film_Renter)* wrote: "Crisply directed, splendidly staged and well acted, with Peter Haddon scoring as nobleman detective. Excellent popular entertainment."[2] *[Kine Weekly](/source/Kine_Weekly)* wrote: "Rousing railroad melodrama with an ingenious crime motif, glorious comedy relief, and spectacular thrills framed in realistic atmosphere. Not only does the plot itself reveal arresting dramatic invention, but it makes generous provision for comprehensive by-play. Every link in the human and exciting chain is fashioned with resourceful technical skill, and each, thanks to enthusiastic team work, carries the hallmark of capital popular entertainment. It is great stuff, a proposition of box-office dimensions for young and old alike, and every member of the family."[3] *[Picturegoer](/source/Picturegoer)* wrote: "An extremely well-made detective drama, novel in plot, ingenious in solution, and seasoned throughout with a real sense of humour. The production, as a whole, is unpretentious and there are minor flaws in construction, particularly in the opening; but it does achieve what it sets out to do – to entertain first and last, and all the time."[4] ## Home media The film was released on DVD in 2008 by Sinister Cinema. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-BFIsearch2_1-0)** ["The Silent Passenger"](https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150291531). *British Film Institute Collections Search*. Retrieved 14 February 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** "The Silent Passenger". *[The Daily Film Renter](/source/The_Daily_Film_Renter)* (2584): 4. 22 June 1935. [ProQuest](/source/ProQuest) [2826301109](https://www.proquest.com/docview/2826301109). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** "The Silent Passenger". *[Kine Weekly](/source/Kine_Weekly)*. **220** (1471): 34. 27 June 1935. [ProQuest](/source/ProQuest) [2339661294](https://www.proquest.com/docview/2339661294). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** "The Silent Passenger". *[Picturegoer](/source/Picturegoer)*. **5**: 24. 3 November 1935. [ProQuest](/source/ProQuest) [1771189783](https://www.proquest.com/docview/1771189783). ## External links - [*The Silent Passenger*](https://web.archive.org/web/20181113235627/http://www.citwf.com/film320510.htm) at The Complete Index To World Film since 1895 (archved from the [original](http://www.citwf.com/film320510.htm) on 13 November 2018) [https://web.archive.org/web/20181113235627/http://www.citwf.com/film320510.htm](https://web.archive.org/web/20181113235627/http://www.citwf.com/film320510.htm) - [*The Silent Passenger*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026996/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e Films directed by Reginald Denham Called Back (1933) The Jewel (1933) Borrow a Million (1934) The Primrose Path (1934) Brides to Be (1934) Lucky Loser (1934) Death at Broadcasting House (1934) The Price of Wisdom (1935) Lieutenant Daring R.N. (1935) The Village Squire (1935) The Silent Passenger (1935) Lucky Days (1935) Dreams Come True (1936) The House of the Spaniard (1936) Calling the Tune (1936) The Crimson Circle (1936) Kate Plus Ten (1938) Flying Fifty-Five (1939) Blind Folly (1939) v t e Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers Characters Lord Peter Wimsey Harriet Vane Mervyn Bunter Miss Climpson Charles Parker Duke of Denver (family title) Novels Whose Body? (1923) Clouds of Witness (1926) Unnatural Death (1927) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) Strong Poison (1931) The Five Red Herrings (1931) Have His Carcase (1932) Murder Must Advertise (1933) The Nine Tailors (1934) Gaudy Night (1935) Busman's Honeymoon (1937) Short story collections Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) Hangman's Holiday (1933) In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) Striding Folly (1972) Lord Peter (1972) The Wimsey Papers in The Spectator (1939-1940) Continuations by Jill Paton Walsh Thrones, Dominations (1998; based on unfinished manuscript by Sayers) A Presumption of Death (2002) The Attenbury Emeralds (2010) The Late Scholar (2013) Adaptations The Silent Passenger (1935 film) Busman's Honeymoon (1940 film) Lord Peter Wimsey (1972 television series) Lord Peter Wimsey (1973 radio series) A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery (1987 television series) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Silent Passenger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silent_Passenger) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silent_Passenger?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.