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Wanted!

1937 film by George King

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ27959521
Source-derived summary

Wanted! is a 1937 British comedy film directed by George King and starring Zasu Pitts, Claude Dampier and Mark Daly. It was written by H. F. Maltby from the play by Brock Williams, and was made at Shepperton Studios as a quota quickie.

Preservation status

The British Film Institute National Archive holds a collection of ephemera and stills but no film or video materials.

Premise

The Oatfields, a married couple, are mistaken for jewel thieves and forced to go to a party. The husband accidentally turns on the burglar alarm and the real criminals are apprehended.

Cast

Zasu Pitts as Winnie Oatfield

Claude Dampier as Henry Oatfield

Mark Daly as Mr. Smithers

Norma Varden as Mrs. Smithers

Finlay Currie as Uncle Mart

Kathleen Harrison as Belinda

Billy Holland as Harry the Hick

Stella Bonheur as Baby Face

Billy Bray as Sparrow Hawkins

Arthur Goullet as Bonelli

Alfred Wellesley as Lord Hotbury

Mabel Twemlow as Lady Hotbury

D.J. Williams as Captain McTurk

Bryan Herbert as Police Constable Gribble

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A good slick production. The East End scenes in a fog are particularly well photographed.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Wanted!” is 1937 film by George King. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Wanted, film and George, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1937—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1937-02-17. For this dossier, Wanted, film and George is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1937 film by George King” 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.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27959521. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1937.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. 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

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Wanted!”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Wanted! primary sources, Wanted! archive and Wanted research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wanted!”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Wanted!” 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.