
Tod Slaughter took to the stage in 1905 and made a name for himself as the star villain of numerous Victorian melodramas which he toured around England. Many of these were filmed cheaply in the 30s and 40s by quota-quickie tzar George King. His ham performances are perfectly suited to the material and the best of his films give the impression that if the Victorians could have made features they would have looked like this

Crimes at the Dark House

Murder at the Grange

It's Never Too Late to Mend

Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror

The Face at the Window

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

The Ticket of Leave Man

Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn

The Crimes of Stephen Hawke

The Curse of the Wraydons

Darby and Joan

The Greed of William Hart

London After Dark

Bothered by a Beard

Puzzle Corner Number Fourteen

Tod Slaughter at Home

Pots of Plots

A Ghost for Sale