The Feathered Serpent (1934 film)
1934 film by Maclean Rogers

The Feathered Serpent is a 1934 British thriller film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Enid Stamp-Taylor, Tom Helmore and Moore Marriott. It was written by Kathleen Butler and Rogers based on the 1927 novel The Feathered Serpent by Edgar Wallace.
Preservation status
The British Film Institute National Archive holds a collection of stills but no film or video materials.
Plot
When their own investigations into the murder of Joe Farmer stall, Scotland Yard asks newspaper reporter Peter Dewin to assist. He is able to find evidence to put the police on the right track, and the culprit is apprehended. Dewin himself finds love with the murderer's secretary, who is uninvolved with the crime.
Cast
Enid Stamp-Taylor as Ella Crewe
Tom Helmore as Peter Dewin
D. A. Clarke-Smith as Joe Farmer
Moore Marriott as Harry Hugg
Molly Fisher as Daphne Olroyd
Vincent Holman as Inspector Clarke
Evelyn Roberts as Leicester Crewe
Iris Baker as Paula Ricks
O. B. Clarence as George Beale
Reception
The Daily Film Renter wrote: "That Edgar Wallace wrote the original of this tale of scared crooks and mysterious vengeance ensures a narrative with well-varied characters, mystic and baleful happenings, and a swiftly moving climax. The maker and cast of the film have competently preserved this spirit and produced quite a fair entertainment."
Kine Weekly wrote: "This crime drama, adapted from a story by Edgar Wallace, is too involved to make good screen entertainment. The producer has failed to preserve the author's cunning in the weaving of the many threads, and this resulis in complete loss of dramatic continuity."
Picture Show wrote: "Here we have once again the spectacle of a young reporter out-sleuthing the experienced sleuths of Scotland Yard in unmasking a murderer.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Feathered Serpent (1934 film)” is 1934 film by Maclean Rogers. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Feathered, Serpent and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1934 film by Maclean Rogers” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7733606. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934 and 1927.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Feathered Serpent (1934 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Feathered Serpent (1934 film) primary sources, The Feathered Serpent (1934 film) archive and Feathered research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Feathered Serpent (1934 film)”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Feathered Serpent (1934 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.