Hot Picks
|
|
|
The Malpas Mystery
UK 1960
produced by Leslie Parkyn, Julian Wintle for Independent Artists, Langton Productions
directed by Sidney Hayers
starring Maureen Swanson, Allan Cuthbertson, Geoffrey Keen, Ronald Howard, Sandra Dorne, Alan Tilvern, Leslie French, Catherine Feller, Richard Shaw, Sheila Allen, Edward Cast
screenplay by Paul Tabori, Gordon Wellesley, based on the novel by Edgar Wallace, music by Elisabeth Lutyens
Merton Park Studios' Edgar Wallace Mysteries
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Audrey (Maureen Swanson) has been released from prison where she was
the fall girl for her sister Dora (Sandra Dorne), and while Dora herself
is less than thrilled to help her out, her boyfriend Marshalt (Allan
Cuthbertson) is all the more so as it's apparently his shtick to mingle
with high society to squeeze money out of them one way or another, and
what better help with this than a couple of beautiful woman by his side.
Audrey however wants to go straight - and is offered a job by Mr. Malpas,
Marshalt's mysterious neighbour who shuns the light and always wears a
mask. Initially she turns the job down as she smells something fishy, but
she's soon hired by some mysterious agency who urge her to take the job.
And there's also the cop who has thrown her into jail back when, Shannon
(Ronald Howard), who's very concerned about her well-being, and he
suggests her accepting the job as well. However, when the two of them are
at Malpas' house, they hear a gunshot, and find Marshalt, apparently dead,
only later the corpse is gone, and Marshalt turns up alive as he just
happened to wear a bullet-proof vest (as one does). At the same time,
Torrington (Geoffrey Keen) has arrived in London after spending years in a
South African jail, and he now wants to track down the man who put him
there, Malpas, and also the daughter he never knew he had - who just
happens to be Audrey. Marshalt and Dora learn about this, and since
Audrey's unaware of this yet, they decide Dora should impersonate her -
knowing as much about Audrey's life as she does, she's likely to get away
with it. However, Torrington sees through the ruse as he knows the real
Audrey has a scar which Dora doesn't. He soon manages to meet up with
Audrey though, and when he sees the scar on her, he knows he has found his
daughter and heiress to his vast fortune. Marshalt of course is not happy
about this, but decides he's going to marry Audrey to get to Torrington's
wealth - only Audrey refuses, so he first rapes her, then locks her inside
a secret prison cell built into his house. Shannon and the police arrive
at Marshalt's place, but Marshalt makes a getaway through a secret
passageway to the neighbouring house, Malpas' house, but is shot down and
revealed to be Malpas. And in closing, Torrington finally gets his
daughter and Shannon gets the girl, in both cases Audrey of course. In
a way, it's just a typical Edgar Wallace movie, with high society diamond
thieves, lost heiresses, hidden passageways, a mysterious super baddie,
innocent girls caught up in high crime, secret organisations - you name
it, this film has got it. And it's over-convoluted and over-populated of
its running time of roughly over an hour. It also doesn't make perfect
sense all the time, and the mystery is actually revealed way too soon
(when Marshalt's found shot in Malpas' house) - but that said the film
flows along nicely and keeps one entertained throughout. Surely not a film
one will remember for long after watching, but also not a complete waste
of time. Even though produced by rival studio Independent
Artists, this film was included in Merton
Park Studios' bulk of Edgar Wallace based films for the lower half
of a double bill.
|
|
|