Despite its being produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Ralph Thomas I was not deterred and watched it anyway. As one would expect from a 'B' whodunnit made as British cinema was tottering on the brink of the 'kitchen sink' genre, it is all rather harmless, well-behaved and 'teddibly, teddibly'. The plot is convoluted even by Francis Durbridge standards but it doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to suss out the identity of the villain from pretty early on.
Part of the fun of course is watching the players rise above the material whilst keeping their tongues firmly in their cheeks. As an actor John Mills occasionally stepped out of his comfort zone but here he is very much within it as a substitute Richard Hannay who has the unfortunate habit of stumbling upon dead females. His undoubted star quality carries him through and he has great support from urbane Roland Culver as the obligatory Man from the Yard and a delightful turn by Lionel Jeffries as a petty crook. One can never see the inimitable Wilfred Hyde White without calling to mind his comment to a director, "I travel very light and I've only brought the one performance with me." He is one of the film's red herrings along with the dour Mervyn Johns. The rest of the cast is uniformly adequate.
For this viewer at any rate the real star of the film is legendary cinematographer Otto Heller, whose services they were privileged to have.
Part of the fun of course is watching the players rise above the material whilst keeping their tongues firmly in their cheeks. As an actor John Mills occasionally stepped out of his comfort zone but here he is very much within it as a substitute Richard Hannay who has the unfortunate habit of stumbling upon dead females. His undoubted star quality carries him through and he has great support from urbane Roland Culver as the obligatory Man from the Yard and a delightful turn by Lionel Jeffries as a petty crook. One can never see the inimitable Wilfred Hyde White without calling to mind his comment to a director, "I travel very light and I've only brought the one performance with me." He is one of the film's red herrings along with the dour Mervyn Johns. The rest of the cast is uniformly adequate.
For this viewer at any rate the real star of the film is legendary cinematographer Otto Heller, whose services they were privileged to have.