An eminent heart surgeon called Philip Teasdale (Dudley Foster) hires a private enquiry agent to observe his wife, Liz (Maxine Audley), who is having an affair with the cabaret artiste Tony Sorbo (Michael Coles). He does not want evidence for a divorce, however, but for an especially nasty form of revenge. Teasdale learns that Sorbo takes quit smoking pills and he replaces them with something to induce a heart attack. Since Teasdale is on call, he is summoned to treat Sorbo when he is taken ill. He tells him that he needs to have open heart surgery and he plans to murder his wife's lover on the operating table during the unnecessary operation. But, Teasdale's plan is compromised by a series of unexpected events...
Modest but very effective British b-pic suspenser from the long running Edgar Wallace franchise. The screenplay by Robert Banks Stewart (Bergerac) provides several opportunities for nail-biting tension that director John Burton Nelson exploits to the hilt. For example, the scenes where Teasdale performs Sorbo's unnecessary operation are particularly unnerving as he is prevented from making the fatal move on a number of occasions. First, by a group of student nurses who unexpectedly arrive to observe a master surgeon at work as part of their studies then, later, by a police inspector who suspects what he is up to and demands he be present for the remainder of the operation. At this stage, all Teasdale has to do is ensure he performs the operation correctly so Sorbo leaves the theatre in one piece. At this stage, the police have nothing concrete to go on apart from hearsay, but will something else unexpected happen that will give him away? Wait and see.
The film is well acted all round especially by Foster who plays the vengeful heart surgeon with an unnerving sense of menace: we can see that he is enraged by Liz's affair with Tony but he remains creepily calm and collected even though he looks as though he could explode at any given moment. Michael Coles and Pauline Yates offer a good study of an unhappy marriage that survives only because they depend upon each other to make their living through their mind reading act. Brian Haines is quite good as an unscrupulous and slimy private eye who isn't above blackmail while Carry On regular Peter Butterworth puts is an appearance as a hotel porter and Patrick Newell of The Avengers fame is a barman.
The film is beautifully shot in b/w by James Wilson heightening the sense of place, tension and atmosphere within the attractive English coastal locations.
Modest but very effective British b-pic suspenser from the long running Edgar Wallace franchise. The screenplay by Robert Banks Stewart (Bergerac) provides several opportunities for nail-biting tension that director John Burton Nelson exploits to the hilt. For example, the scenes where Teasdale performs Sorbo's unnecessary operation are particularly unnerving as he is prevented from making the fatal move on a number of occasions. First, by a group of student nurses who unexpectedly arrive to observe a master surgeon at work as part of their studies then, later, by a police inspector who suspects what he is up to and demands he be present for the remainder of the operation. At this stage, all Teasdale has to do is ensure he performs the operation correctly so Sorbo leaves the theatre in one piece. At this stage, the police have nothing concrete to go on apart from hearsay, but will something else unexpected happen that will give him away? Wait and see.
The film is well acted all round especially by Foster who plays the vengeful heart surgeon with an unnerving sense of menace: we can see that he is enraged by Liz's affair with Tony but he remains creepily calm and collected even though he looks as though he could explode at any given moment. Michael Coles and Pauline Yates offer a good study of an unhappy marriage that survives only because they depend upon each other to make their living through their mind reading act. Brian Haines is quite good as an unscrupulous and slimy private eye who isn't above blackmail while Carry On regular Peter Butterworth puts is an appearance as a hotel porter and Patrick Newell of The Avengers fame is a barman.
The film is beautifully shot in b/w by James Wilson heightening the sense of place, tension and atmosphere within the attractive English coastal locations.
