Once a Crook is a 1941 British crime film directed by Herbert Mason, produced by Edward Black for 20th Century Fox and featuring Gordon Harker, Sydney Howard, Bernard Lee, Kathleen Harrison, and Raymond Huntley.
After many complications along the road, the hit is a success, and The Duke is bereaved of his revenge, ultimately stopped by his good-hearted sweetheart, Estelle.
Bernard Lee makes "The Duke" a suave villain, but Joss Ambler is a little too blunt and stiff for a CID inspector.
"[6] Kine Weekly wrote: "The first half is a little on the slow side – we take a little while to sort out the romantic and domestic by-plots – but from the moment Charlie is made a double scapegoat for the Duke's villainy things really begin to hum.
Well-planned laughs and thrills provide in the end the framework and facade of capital British comedy crime entertainment.