Salute the Toff (1952) + Hammer the Toff (1952)

Get the original film, Salute the Toff, and the sequel, Hammer the Toff, for 20% their individual prices!

Salute the Toff (1952) aka Brighthaven Express

John Bentley, Carol Marsh, Valentine Dyall, Shelagh Fraser, June Elvin
Directed by Maclean Rogers

Print: Black/White
Runtime: 75 min.
Genre: Drama

The Honourable Richard Rollinson (Bentley) is a well-known private detective who has friends and contacts in all echelons of society from the wealthy West End set to the lowest East End hovels. He likes to take on cases on behalf of underdogs, and is feared by the criminal underworld for his fearsome reputation of always getting his man.

Young secretary Fay Gretton (Marsh) comes to Rollinson, worried that her employer has not shown up for work for several days and cannot be contacted. Rollinson breaks into the man's flat and finds a body – not that of Fay's missing boss, but the son of a millionaire businessman. The missing man is the prime suspect, and it is up to Rollinson to get to the bottom of the case, aided by his East End contacts. After a series of dramatic events, including Fay being abducted and tied up, the truth is finally revealed, the missing man is found, and Rollinson proves that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Hammer the Toff (1952)

John Bentley, Patricia Dainton, John Robinson, Valentine Dyall, Lockwood West
Directed by Maclean Rogers

Print: Black/Whiter
Runtime: 71 min.
Genre: Drama

On the train to the seaside resort of Brighthaven, Richard Rollinson (Bentley) is sharing a carriage with an attractive young lady called Susan Lancaster (Dainton). The journey is rudely interrupted when the window of the carriage is shattered by a barrage of bullets. Richard learns from the shaken Susan that she is on her way to join an uncle on holiday, and offers to escort her safely to her hotel. They learn that her uncle has disappeared, but has left Susan a package. Later, Rollinson happens to overhear a pair of shady characters discussing how to kidnap Susan. She explains that her uncle has developed a secret formula which sinister characters are keen to get their hands on, and they have been receiving threats of menace, hence the flight to Brighthaven.

Rollinson consults his old colleague Inspector Grice of Scotland Yard, who tells him that the evidence is pointing in the direction of a particular man as being responsible for the abduction. Using his friends and contacts in the East End, Rollinson investigates, while Susan is being kidnapped and tied up. Rollinson finally succeeds in identifying the criminals and their leader "The Hammer", releasing Susan and proving that the man suspected by the police is innocent.