Murder on the Campus (1961) User Reviews (15)

Murder in Cambridge

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 3 January 2020]

Bearing a 1962 copyright date but with a cast member (Edwin Styles, who plays the college principal) who died in December 1960, this otherwise very routine murder mystery (with the usual noisy jazz score) is enlivened by location work in Cambridge (where the locals in one scene can be seen gathering to enjoy watching the actors at work) and by the erratic direction of a young Michael Winner.

Winner has managed to assemble a cast of familiar faces to go through the motions and the frequent dollies & dissolves create a veneer of sophistication that goes some way towards camouflaging that Winner still hasn't yet mastered getting his eyelines to match during dialogue scenes.

A formulaic potboiler, decent enough.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 19 July 2018]

Murder on The Campus is very much a B movie, it's not one I think many who saw it would have remembered for very long, as there is very little that's unique or exciting about it. That's said it's still an enhenjoyable watch, with a few twists and a few moments of intrigue. The acting is decent, solid enough, Longdon is solid in the lead role. I think of the fifties and sixties as a classic time for whodunnits, sadly this isn't one of the obscure gems.

Worth a look, but not one you'll remember for very long.

Talk Faster

[boblipton · 5/10 · 26 December 2020]

Terence Longden shows up in Cambridge. His brother, a University student, is said to have committed suicide in the river. It's a conclusion the police accept, but Longden finds incomprehensible. Longden makes himself a nuisance, and soon encounters Diane Clare, the stepdaughter of a Cambridge don and antiques dealer who also seems to have dived into the river at the same time. It seems an unlikely coincidence to either. When another local antiques dealer comes to warn Miss Clare that Longden could be embarrassing to her and to the memory of her stepfather, their suspicions are confirmed... but if it was murder, what were they murdered for?

This early directorial effort by Michael Winner moves along at a terrific clip, with everyone talking very fast, annoyingly so. It's clear Winner was pushing everyone to make it come in at less than an hour, and he succeeded.... but it does no favor to the film.

An early potboiler from Michael Winner

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 20 November 2015]

Michael Winner had a long and illustrious career as a notorious director of exploitation and bad taste movies until his death in 2013. He started out on his career back in the early 1960s with a series of documentary shorts and low budget black-and-white potboilers, and OUT OF THE SHADOW is one such production.

The movie was shot in and around Cambridge with the university playing a large role in the proceedings, hence the alternate title MURDER ON THE CAMPUS. CARRY ON REGARDLESS actor Terence Longdon is the erstwhile hero, investigating the death of his brother who was thrown out of a college window. Before long he encounters a conspiracy of silence and soon attracts the attention of a murderer keen to cover up his crime.

OUT OF THE SHADOW is certainly adequate as a B-movie thriller and no better or worse than the type of product being put out by Francis Searle and Butcher's Film Studios during the same era. Longdon is a likable lead and the supporting cast give some good performances, particularly Diane Clare (PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES). It's not the kind of film that will blow your mind but it trundles along merrily enough and Winner shows some talent at even this early stage of his career.

A forgettable potboiler.

[Sylvester · 18 November 2000]

"Murder on the Campus" was Michael Winner's second film. It was actually made in England in 1957 under the title "The Clock Strikes Eight". It is a very routine muder mystery with little to recommend it. It is what was known as a "Quota Quickie", a second feature, made on the cheap to enable British theatre owners to fulfill their quota - a legal requirement that a set percentage of all footage shown in British movie theatres had to be British in origin.

Long on abrasiveness. Short on credibility!

[info-996-828544 · 4/10 · 19 July 2018]

In a University town that is famed for it's genteel manners, somehow Michael Winner believes that the hero, Mark Kingston, can get to the bottom of what he believes is the murder of his brother. There is precious little, "please, thank you or sorry" from him and his whole manner consists of being at best, abrasive to all and sundry.

I do realise it's only a film, but credibility hits a low when the police appear to believe that two drownings in the local river are not suspicious. The area of Cambridge where the River Cam passes the Colleges is know as "The Backs". The Cam is about four foot deep there, hence the use of flat bottom boats driven by poles (Punts).

As with so many "B" pictures of this era, there is the customary American Actor who despite his obscurity in the film world even among Americans, is there in the hope of creating some interest in the film stateside. In this particular case, his character is that of a USAF Sergeant, who is equally rude and abrasive to complete strangers. At one stage, Kingston offers him a lift back to his airbase, to which he responds that it's not necessary because it's within walking distance. The nearest airbase is Duxford, which is about 9 miles from Cambridge, and the USAF pulled out of there in 1945.

If you have a reasonable knowledge of Cambridge, you are more likely to treat this film as a comedy rather than a thriller.

Just a bit annoying

[wxjuh · 3/10 · 16 April 2018]

The very annoying music all the way through just wasn't needed, maybe it was this that put me off or maybe it was the acting or maybe it was with watching the superb 'Scotland Yard' series that's being run at the moment on the equally superb Talking pictures tv, could be.

Classic British Mystery

[nova-63 · 7/10 · 11 January 2010]

A reporter (Terence Longdon) probes the mysterious death of his brother, who fell out of the window of his college dorm room. Without anything to go on, except his own curiosity, Longdon begins asking questions. When the police and the college staff are evasive in their answers, he digs in his heels and starts his own probe. Longdon turns to his brother's classmates and friends. He schedules a meeting with a student who saw someone walking on the roof of his brother's apartment on the night he fell. But minutes before the meeting time, the student is found dead, another victim of an accident. Now even the police are willing to believe that there is more here than just two accidental deaths.

The print I saw had the title, Murder On The Campus, and ran the full 61 minutes. Finally, the 3.5 viewer rating is ridiculous. This is a well made British B mystery. Nothing terrific but hardly 3.5. Another curious example of how IMDb handles ratings. Don't pass this up because of the rating.

Really?

[d-73056 · 4/10 · 21 April 2024]

Too many excuses are being made for this film. Why would someone have an open top car in use in the English winter months? How were car brakes actually disabled on a Cambridge main road, and in so short a time? With all the students living there, is it likely that the place would be described a quiet? Do you really shout out your plans in a public place(s) all the time? Why was the lead character never actually finished off when being attacked, or at least hospitalised? There were plenty of opportunities.

The talking was ridiculously fast throughout and unnecessary; the acting totally over the top.

Hard to believe any of it.....

Not bad...

[lucyrfisher · 7/10 · 1 September 2021]

But could have been much more mysterious. Why were the police and the college so keen to hush everything up? As it turns out - for no reason. Their dismissive attitude is never explained. The corpses pile up. Mary Johnson, step-daughter of one of them, is left alone in a grand house that seems to consist of one room with features painted onto the walls. Her face is quirky rather than pretty, but the hero seems to fall for her instantly, despite being vamped by a blonde waitress with loose morals.

Mary's step-father and brother were involved in a wartime racket, looting storage facilities and abandoned houses. Presumably in wartime Britain it was harder to find owners and inventories. But that was 15 years ago, and it seems foolhardy to sell the missing antiques openly in a Cambridge high street shop.

The original death came about while one of the gang was searching for a stash of loot - why wait 15 years?

Much is left unexplained. There is a brief glimpse of a wild masquerade where the girls' costumes reveal rather a lot. And the local café seems staffed by extras from a Hammer film of the bodice-ripping kind. They make the heroine seem even more frumpy.

Murder on the Campus

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 28 April 2020]

A quickie quota B movie, at least you can gauge the evolution of Michael Winner as a film director.

Murder on the Campus is an early work that Winner wrote and directed. Mark Kingston (Terence Longdon) is a journalist who is investigating the death of his brother who was a student at Cambridge. The police think it was a suicide.

The police think Kingston is a nuisance who just gets in the way. However as soon as Kingston arrives on the scene, there are several other suspicious deaths.

There is something about the university accommodation that is of interest to someone.

This is a brisk and lively film, there are several suspects. You would probably gather that the most unlikely people are likely to be culprits.

It might not make much sense but Winner was a determined director. Within a few years after the release of this film he made it to Hollywood.

Very fast thriller in the slow motion town of Cambridge

[clanciai · 8/10 · 19 February 2023]

Was it murder or an accident? That question is never answered, as there are too many deaths and murders amassing on top of the mystery. Terence Longdon comes all the way from America on the news of his brother's sudden death in Cambridge by falling out of a window and into the ditch, where he was fished out dead. The reporter Terence upsets everyone's circles by asking questions, and he gets attacked for it, and one of his vital witnesses gets killed just before he was supposed to meet him for an interview. Another girl is murdered while she is talking with him on the phone and just about to say too much. There are several manhunts, and gradually the police realizes that the reporter is not just a clumsy blunderer. The dialog is brilliant throughout, but you have to hang on tightly not to fall off the track. There are some girls involved also, and the party starts to smell of something like Hitchcock when he ends up in a hullaballoo of a masked party, where he gets laughed down for asking if anyone has seen someone with a mask. Above all, this intriguing thriller is worth watching if you know Cambridge, because all Cambridge is there, all the environments are genuine, and even the people couldn't be more convincing as Cambridge natives.

"You haven't seen three Chinese boys have you?"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 13 November 2022]

A London reporter Mark Kingston comes to Cambridge to find out about the death of his brother. Was it murder or suicide? This is an entertaining mystery movie that moves along swiftly and leads to a satisfactory conclusion with lots of watchable characters. There are a couple of plot holes but that doesn't reduce the enjoyment of the film. Terence Longdon as Kingston is a solid lead well supported by Donald Gray as the initially sceptic Inspector Wills, Robertson Hare as the jolly Ronald Fortescue and the always cute Diane Clare as the sympathetic Mary Johnson. There is much location shooting on the streets of Cambridge, that pretty university town, which enhances the movie. Continuity for the film was done by the splendidly named Splinters Deason. I enjoyed it.

Out of the Shadow

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 16 April 2023]

This is one of these films that could really have benefitted from a stronger, more charismatic, leading man! As it is, Michael Winner chose to saddle us with the wooden and rather plodding Terence Longdon to play "Kingston". He has arrived in the heart of academic Cambridge to establish just what happened to his brother who was found lying at the foot of his bedroom window. The police have assumed suicide, but he is not convinced. It doesn't take long for him to find himself embroiled in some skulduggery surrounding stolen goods and more bodies! Finally convincing the constabulary - "Insp. Wills" (Donald Gray) - that there is more afoot we embark on a briskly paced mystery as he and "Mary" (Diane Clare) who is the daughter of another seemingly suicidal victim begin to close in on the culprits - and attract their attention too! It's not great this - the acting is pedestrian and there is way too much verbiage, but the story is actually quite decent and the film does not hang about - each scene seamlessly picking up from the previous as if it were a stage play! It's nobody's finest work, but is still not a bad hour's watch.

Compact 58' noir moves briskly

[adrianovasconcelos · 6/10 · 26 April 2023]

By 1961, Michael Winner traversed early directing and writing days. That said, he already showed some of the attributes that would buttress such solid heats as DEATH WISH, with staccato editing and in your face cinematography.

Winner has precious little to work with in OUT OF THE SHADOW, known in the US movie circuit as MURDER ON THE CAMPUS.

Terence Longden plays the part of Mark Kingston, who comes to Cambridge University looking to find out what actually caused his brother's death, and in short order he meets lovely and cooperative girls, becomes the target for beatings by unknown, sometimes masked attackers from whom he flees and then confronts only for a copper to detain him on charges of resisting, and Inspector Willis, a Scotland Yard chief as useless as his mutilated left arm, in an interestingly deprecating look at Scotland Yard's operation.

Neither Longden nor any of the other actors particularly stands out in this fast-moving noir. If you close your eyes, do not see the action and just listen, you can tell that lines are deliberately read at top speed.

Although rather basic cinema, at 58' it is no waste of time.