Clegg (also known as The Bullet Machine, Clegg Private Eye and Harry and the Hookers) is a 1970 British crime film directed by Lindsay Shonteff and starring Gilbert Wynne,[1] in his first starring film role. It was written by Lewis J. Hagleton.

Plot

Ex-policeman and now private detective Harry Clegg is hired by wealthy businessman Lord Cruickshank to investigate a death-threat letter he has received, which leads to a string of murders, some by Clegg himself.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in various locations around London including the Docklands and Highgate Cemetery, as well as in Paris.[citation needed]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A pathetic attempt to transplant the private eye thriller to the British scene, high on violence and low on style. The hero's attempts to deliver his sub-Chandlerian wisecracks with the weary cynicism of a Philip Marlowe are merely embarrassing, while Lindsay Shonteff's idea of direction seems to be to squeeze in as many massive close-ups of guns, telephones and osculating lips as possible. 'It happens in all the Bogart movies,' says Clegg at one point: the trouble is that there it happens so much better."[2]

References

  1. ^ "Clegg". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Clegg". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 36 (420): 265. 1 January 1969 – via ProQuest.


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