The Vulture (1937)

The Vulture is a 1937 British quota quickie slapstick comedy film, directed by Ralph Ince and starring Claude Hulbert, Hal Walters and Lesley Brook. The film proved very popular with audiences and the following year spawned a sequel The Viper, although this was much less successful.

There is no indication of the film having been shown after its original cinema run. The British Film Institute do not hold a print in the BFI National Archive, although they do have a number of production stills on file. Both The Vulture and The Viper are included on the BFI's "75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films.

Synopsis

Hopeless but eager would-be private detective Cedric Gull (Hulbert) has just obtained a diploma from a backstreet 'School of Detection' and is keen to put his new qualification to good use. Fortuitously, he happens to stumble across a crime scene at the office of a diamond merchant, who has just been robbed and assaulted and is being tended by his secretary Sylvia (Brook). The police arrive on the scene, but despite Cedric's proud boasts about his sleuthing qualifications, they decline his kind offers of help.

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