A Matter of Murder is a 1949 British second feature ('B')[1] crime film directed and written by John Gilling and starring Maureen Riscoe, John Barry, Charles Clapham, Ian Fleming and John Le Mesurier.[2][3]

Plot

Mild-mannered bank clerk Geoffrey Dent is persuaded by his nagging, gold-digging girlfriend, Laura, to embezzle money. When an attempt is made on Laura's life, Geoffrey runs away with the cash to avoid being blamed. With the killer and a detective hot on his heels, Geoffrey hides out in a Cheltenham boarding house, where he becomes the murderer's next intended victim.

Cast

  • John Barry as Geoffrey Dent
  • Maureen Riscoe as Julie McKelvin
  • Charles Clapham as Col Peabody
  • Ivan Craig as Tony
  • Ian Fleming as Det Sgt McKelvin
  • Sonya O'Shea as Laura Wilson
  • Peter Madren as Sgt Bex
  • John Le Mesurier as Ginter
  • Sam Lee as Cullen
  • Blanche Fothergill as Miss Budge

Production

The film was made by Vandyke Productions at Viking Studios, and on location at a former girls' school in Kensington dressed as a boarding house, and Paddington Station.[1]

Reception

Kine Weekly wrote: "Stilted acting and dialogue remove the edge from many intended thrills. Very moderate quota offering."[4]

Picturegoer wrote: "Characters are drawn from stock, with a provincial boarding house setting, and the drama as a whole is most ingenuous. Maureen Riscoe is quite good as the heroine, but the rest of the cast hardly comes up to scratch."[5]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Tatty programme-filler."[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ^ "A Matter of Murder". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  3. ^ "A Matter of Murder (1950)". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016.
  4. ^ "A Matter of Murder". Kine Weekly. 394 (2223): 24. 8 December 1949 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ "A Matter of Murder". Picturegoer. 19: 17. 9 April 1950 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 229. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Murder
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