Once again, the assistance of crime novelist Paul Temple, recently married to 'Steve' Trent is required by Scotland Yard. They're baffled by a particularly repulsive character signing himself 'Rex' who blackmails women then murders them.
This scores over the other two films in the series I've seen, SEND FOR PAUL TEMPLE and PAUL TEMPLE RETURNS, not least for the enjoyable performances of John Bentley and Dinah Sheridan who were ideal as Paul and Steve; there's a real chemistry and sense of fun and romance between them. Bentley was very much at home in this kind of role, evoking that air of cheerful authority that Roger Moore was later able to bring to his portrayal of The Saint and interpretation of James Bond. Exquisitely beautiful Dinah Sheridan lights up the screen in a sparkling performance with her diverting, amusing repartee with Paul and benefits from a script that gives Steve an equal role in tracking down the killer, discovering several vital clues. By comparison, in the BBC TV Paul Temple series, made at the turn of the 1970s, Steve had little to do, with the producers considering writing her out altogether at one point. It all gets off to a flying start with Celia Lipton - whatever happened to her? - as the nightclub vocalist, de rigueur in this kind of British B, falling dramatically down the stairs in the middle of her second number, Steve Race's "What's Cooking in Cabaret?". I've seen acts die before, but not like this. From then on there's red herrings galore as suspicion falls on most of the characters in turn, played by some admirable actors including Abraham Sofaer as a therapist, his mysterious secretary Mrs. Trevelyan (Margaretta Scott) and salesman Hugh Pryse, who could almost be a younger, Welsh, relation of Alastair Sim. Good old Wally Patch is Temple's underworld grass Spider Williams; he also supported Bentley in the two films featuring John Creasey's hero The Toff, both also directed by Maclean Rogers and now apparently lost. There's time for some fascinating glimpses of Canterbury as it was then, and for Paul and Steve to be tied up in a cellar with the water rising remorselessly. Then the time-honoured denouement with all the suspects gathered together in one room and finally an almighty punch-up between Temple and the villain, to a reprise of the melodramatic title music. Great escapist fun 1940s style.
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