This b feature only lasts for 58 minutes and manages to include many changes in direction.The only problem is that it only leaves about two minutes to get to the climax.The film abides by the convention that the first person arrested cannot be guilty.Interesting to see a two inch broadcast tape machine in operation.Keep an eye on the blinds of the back window of the car.They change from open to closed each scene.
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malcolmgsw25 February 2018
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jamesraeburn200317 August 2018Charles Hilary (Peter Williams) is stuck in a loveless marriage with Louise (Ursula Howels) who is an alcoholic and has had affairs with numerous other men. Hilary wants a divorce so that he can marry the beautiful TV star Kathy Forrester (Petra Davies); but Louise hurls abuse and insults saying "You'll have to murder me first." Yes, you've guessed it, soon after their confrontation somebody murders Louise with Hilary's own gun. He is duly arrested and put on trial at the Old Bailey where the jury believes a woman who said she saw him leaving Louise's apartment at the time of the murder. As it happens, Hilary was watching a Test Match at Lords; but his poor recollection of it sees the jury return a verdict of guilty. As he sits in his prison cell awaiting his sentence to be carried out, Hilary is taken ill with a suspected attack of Malaria. He is taken to a hospital where he overpowers his guard and escapes. With Kathy's help he flees to the Kent countryside where in hiding he plans to make it to the Port of Dover and escape across the channel. It isn't long before he is recaptured though and, with the help of retired Commissioner of Police Sir John Fawcett (Ronald Adam), Kathy races against time to find new evidence to clear her lover before his appointment with the hangman...
A neat and trim little 'B'-pic thriller well acted by a cast of familiar British character actors. It manages to pack in quite a lot of action in its short running time (58 mins) and the courtroom scenes are snappily edited and sufficiently well staged that they provide some tension. Bernard Archard offers a towering performance as the prosecutor, Duke, and easily beats his opposite number Carlton (Peter Howell) in the acting stakes as well as in winning his case against Peter Williams' Charles Hilary. The foreman of the jury is played by none other than Garfield Morgan who appears here in what must have been an early minor part for him. Director Robert Lynn shows proficiency at keeping a well-knit story line moving at a cracking pace and for creating suspense. There are some hilarious moments too like when Hilary escapes from hospital and, as he is legging it through a side street, a cheeky young lad rides up on a bicycle and starts criticising his running: "Hey mister, you ain't got no style. Stop flapping your arms about, you ain't gonna fly." The scenes where he is on the run in the Kent countryside are quite good featuring some well chosen locations. He is walking through the woods and he is disturbed by the beaters of a local shoot and, thinking that they are the law, he hides under a bridge on a stream. But, as he craws out he is spotted and since they recognise him as the escaped man reported in the papers he is recaptured. The final showdown in which the police inspector, played by Stratford Johns, closes in on the real murderer is pretty tense too. Although the cast of famous supporting stars steal the acting honours, Peter Williams and Petra Davies, although they are second division leads, offer more than competent performances and do enough to make us sympathise with their characters' plight. Ursula Howels is quite good as the murdered woman and the film is given more weight by the atmospheric b/w lighting of Cinematographer Ken Hodges.
Warning: The inside cover of the UK Region 2 DVD issue contains a reproduction of original publicity material for the film; including a plot synopsis that reveals the identity of the murderer. So if you don't want to know whodunit before you watch it don't read it.