Tod Slaughter took to the stage in 1905 and made a name for himself as thestar villain of numerous Victorian melodramas which he toured aroundEngland. Many of these were filmed cheaply in the 30s and 40s byquota-quickie tzar George King. His ham performances are perfectlysuited to the material and the best of his films give the impressionthat if the Victorians could have made features they would have lookedlike this.