Cloudburst (1951 film)

Cloudburst is a 1951 British second feature ('B') crime drama film directed by Francis Searle, starring Robert Preston, Elizabeth Sellars, Harold Lang, Colin Tapley and Sheila Burrell. It was written by Searle and Leo Marks based on a story of the same name by Marks, a wartime cryptographer for the Special Operations Executive. It was produced by Hammer Films. Assistant director was Jimmy Sangster, Casting was handled by Michael Carreras, and Makeup was by Phil Leakey.

Production ran from Jan. 8, 1951 through Feb. 15, 1951, it was trade shown on June 21, 1951 and released to the ABC circuit in January of 1952. The film's release was held up due to censorship problems regarding Robert Preston's suicide scene in the original screenplay, which had to be re-shot for both the British and American prints. Co-producer Alexander Paal was hired for his ability to obtain American stars for future Hammer productions that would boost their box office attractiveness. "Cloudburst" featured their first American star, Robert Preston, and was also the first film Hammer produced at their Bray studio.