Gulley Jimson is a boorish aging artist recently released from prison. A swindler in search of his next art project, he hunkers down in the penthouse of would-be patrons the Beeders while they go on an extended vacation; he paints a mural on their wall, pawns their valuables and, along with the sculptor Abel, inadvertently smashes a large hole in their floor. Jimson's next project is an even larger wall in an abandoned church.
Alec Guinness
as Gulley Jimson
Kay Walsh
as Dee Coker
Renée Houston
as Sara Monday
Mike Morgan
as Nosey
Robert Coote
as Sir William Beeder
Michael Gough
as Abel
Veronica Turleigh
as Lday Beeder
Reginald Beckwith
as Capt. Jones
Arthur Macrae
as A.W. Alabaster
Ernest Thesiger
as Hickson
Gillian Vaughan
as Lollie
Joan Hickson
as Lady in Gallery Queue (uncredited)
