A Sussex chemist called Peter Hastings (John Horsley) becomes the chief suspect in a murder investigation when both he and his mistress, the fortune teller Madeleine Tilliard both drink Strychnine. But only the girl dies and Hastings escapes with only minor effects. Since he is a chemist and has knowledge of poisons and worse still, a bottle of Strychnine is found in his medicine cabinet, Inspector Simmons (Russell Napier) suspects "a double bluff". Simmons has a lot on his plate since he is constantly being badgered by a young reporter called Dennis Willows (Jack Watling) who is always on the look out for a big story. It transpires that Hastings is a lady's man who was even involved with Dr Cole's (Kenneth Kent) wife, Florence, whom was being blackmailed for large sums of money by the poisoned woman. We learn that Hastings broke off his engagement with his fiancée, Sallie Harbord (Rona Anderson) because Madeline had a hold over him. Many years ago, when he was a young chemist he sold a secret formula to a rival company in order to pay off a three-hundred-pound gambling debt. Madeleine learned of this and was blackmailing him not for money but marriage. When Florence is brutally murdered with a scalpel, Inspector Simmons warns Hastings not to leave town and places an officer on his door to make sure he does not. In the meantime, Hastings has been patching things up with Sallie who investigates the case on his behalf. A visit to Madeline's fanatical puritan father, Phineas (John Le Mesurier) uncovers a photograph of Madeleine with her secret lover only his face has been conveniently rubbed out. But a sign in the background advertising a seaside hotel takes her to Brighton with Willows in pursuit. From there she rings Hastings and tells him that they will have to stay overnight as the hotel manager has to dig out an old register to find out the name of the man Madeleine stayed there with at the time. Hastings knocks out the police officer stationed outside his home and joins the pair at the hotel. But during the night the killer very nearly strikes again...
No not the Sandra Bullock blockbuster but an unremarkable British quota quickie whodunit from editor turned director Charles Saunders. Regrettably, the vast majority of his output in this capacity consisted of routine b-pics and anybody who has seen such gems as The Narrowing Circle (1956) will probably admit that some of them were pretty awful. This offering is by no means terrible but Doreen Montgomery's (who contributed to the marvellous 1960's TV series, The Human Jungle) screenplay has a rushed feel to it and the clues don't run smoothly into each other to reveal a none too surprising denouement. Saunders manages to stage an effectively eerie opening in which a blackmail victim arrives to pay off her blackmailer in the grounds of an abandoned country mansion at night who appears from the shadows in a sinister Ku Klux Klan type hood to the strains of Frank Chacksfield's appropriately creepy score. But the remainder of the film fails to live up to this initial promise. But the main pleasure you will get out of watching this is the number of actors who would later become household names in various British TV classics that turn up. There's Joan Hickson (Miss Marple) who offers one of her many supporting roles as dotty, eccentric spinsters as a dog loving nosy neighbour, "We don't want to get involved in any nasty business do we Putzi Wutsi?" But it is her beloved dog that provides Inspector Simmons with the vital clue that brings the killer to book - the dog loved his shaving lotion! John Le Mesurier (Dad's Army) is in there too as the murder victim's fanatical puritan father and he seems somewhat miscast, which adds to the enjoyment of his part. He bursts into the courtroom and shouting lines like "Alcohol, the devil's brew, the snare that encompasses the ruin". And last but not least in one of the most minimal parts, there's Dandy Nichols, who within a decade after appearing in this would become known to millions as Alf Garnet's long-suffering wife in Till Death Us Do Part. She plays a waitress in a café and only has one line: "Beans is off". But it must be said that even here she makes the most minimal of roles memorable. Saunders stages their appearances in eye catching ways rather like star cameos are in bigger films. One wonders if the director sensed that they would go on to do bigger and better things than this and made sure that their contributions here stood out as if they were already big stars.
No not the Sandra Bullock blockbuster but an unremarkable British quota quickie whodunit from editor turned director Charles Saunders. Regrettably, the vast majority of his output in this capacity consisted of routine b-pics and anybody who has seen such gems as The Narrowing Circle (1956) will probably admit that some of them were pretty awful. This offering is by no means terrible but Doreen Montgomery's (who contributed to the marvellous 1960's TV series, The Human Jungle) screenplay has a rushed feel to it and the clues don't run smoothly into each other to reveal a none too surprising denouement. Saunders manages to stage an effectively eerie opening in which a blackmail victim arrives to pay off her blackmailer in the grounds of an abandoned country mansion at night who appears from the shadows in a sinister Ku Klux Klan type hood to the strains of Frank Chacksfield's appropriately creepy score. But the remainder of the film fails to live up to this initial promise. But the main pleasure you will get out of watching this is the number of actors who would later become household names in various British TV classics that turn up. There's Joan Hickson (Miss Marple) who offers one of her many supporting roles as dotty, eccentric spinsters as a dog loving nosy neighbour, "We don't want to get involved in any nasty business do we Putzi Wutsi?" But it is her beloved dog that provides Inspector Simmons with the vital clue that brings the killer to book - the dog loved his shaving lotion! John Le Mesurier (Dad's Army) is in there too as the murder victim's fanatical puritan father and he seems somewhat miscast, which adds to the enjoyment of his part. He bursts into the courtroom and shouting lines like "Alcohol, the devil's brew, the snare that encompasses the ruin". And last but not least in one of the most minimal parts, there's Dandy Nichols, who within a decade after appearing in this would become known to millions as Alf Garnet's long-suffering wife in Till Death Us Do Part. She plays a waitress in a café and only has one line: "Beans is off". But it must be said that even here she makes the most minimal of roles memorable. Saunders stages their appearances in eye catching ways rather like star cameos are in bigger films. One wonders if the director sensed that they would go on to do bigger and better things than this and made sure that their contributions here stood out as if they were already big stars.