"The Armchair Detective" was a surprisingly popular BBC radio series starring Ernest Dudley. In fact, the movie opens with a scene that actually satirizes the BBC serial. Unfortunately, this turns out to be the movie's sole attempt at originality. The actual mystery presented here is both dull and routine, although – true to his name – Ernest Dudley acts earnestly and competently enough and manages to hold his own even with the villain played by Hartley Power plus a feminine newcomer named Sally Newton (although she did have a small uncredited role in 1949's Adam and Evalyn). Her claim to fame was the fact that she was the daughter of the popular, yet over-the-top actor Robert Newton (who was always as nutty a character off-screen, as he was on). But Sally never got anywhere, alas. She made only two more brief movie appearances and a tiny TV role.
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