The Silent House (1929 film)


The Silent House is a 1929 British silent mystery film directed by Walter Forde, and starring Mabel Poulton, Gibb McLaughlin and Arthur Pusey. It was made in 1928 at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames and released in January 1929. The film was written by H. Fowler Mear, based on a hit stage play by John C. Brandon and George Pickett, but it was not a success at the box office.
The Oriental character played by Gibbs McLaughlin in the film resembled Fu Manchu, not surprising as Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu character was very popular among filmgoers in 1929. A print of the film exists in the National Film Archives in London.

Plot

The film takes place in an "old dark house" sporting hidden panels, clutching hands, a snake pit and a secret panel leading to a room used to conceal dead bodies. A Chinese mandarin named Chang Fu uses his Svengali-like powers to hypnotize a woman into revealing the hiding place of a cache of expensive bonds.

Cast