The son of a notorious hangman is gradually becoming insane and he finds himself unable to resist the urge to strangle women to death.
Eric Portman
Victor James Colebrooke
Dulcie Gray
Anne Fielding
Derek Farr
Jack Williams
Roland Culver
Chief Inspector Conway
Stanley Holloway
Sergeant Sullivan
Barbara Everest
Mrs Colebrooke
Bonar Colleano
Corporal Nick Mappolo
Jenny Laird
Jeannie McLaren
Kathleen Harrison
Florrie
Bill Shine
Detective Ellis
Viola Lyel
Mabel Cooper
John Salew
Detective Walters
John Ruddock
Glover
Edna Wood
Miss Kemp
George Carney
Boat Rental Agent
Mary Mackenzie
Girl at Fair
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Guide in Madame Tussaud's
Moira Lister
Miss Willis
Gerhard Kempinski
Head Waiter
Caven Watson
Underground Attendant
Wally Patch
Merry-Go-Round Barker
Frank Atkinson
Chip Shop Customer
Marie Ault
Flower Seller
Beatrice Campbell
Muriel
Howard Douglas
Head Park Keeper
Alexander Field
First Newspaper Seller
Soja Ooternan
Singer
Tony Quinn
Mugsy Knight
Johnnie Schofield
Chip Shop Owner
Harry Terry
Park Keeper
Klaas van Beek
Singer
Director
Lawrence Huntington
Scenario Writer, Theatre Play
Terence de Marney
Scenario Writer, Theatre Play
Percy Robinson
Screenplay
Emeric Pressburger
Screenplay
Rodney Ackland
January 25, 2014
8
Just Call Whitehall 1212
Wanted for Murder is directed by Lawrence Huntington and adapted to screenplay by Emeric Pressburger, Rodney Ackland, Barbara Everest and Maurice Cowan from the play by Terence De Marney and Percy Robinson. It stars Eric Portman, Dulcie Gray, Derek Farr, Roland Culver and Stanley Holloway. Music is by Mischa Spoliansky and cinematography by Mutz Greenbaum.
Nifty little thriller noir this, basically it finds Portman as the sinister Victor James Colebrook, a man with murderous instincts born out by bad seed lineage in his family tree. Can intrepid Chief Inspector Conway (Culver) nail his man before he kills yet again? Imperative since Victor has latched onto Anne Fielding (Gray), and although he is in love with her, he doesn’t know how long he can contain his blood lust.
Thought to be influenced by a real life serial killer, Huntington’s movie is very Hitchcockian in tone. Story unfolds by night in a London of dimly lighted foggy streets and dense shadowed parks, and by day it’s the hustle and bustle of the city that provides a backdrop of false normalcy. As the tormented Victor goes about his way, leading his double life as a cunning member of society who dotes on his mother – and that of a strangler of women – the makers ensure the surroundings suit the persona.
A chapter of the story set at a carnival pulses with unease, a visit to a wax museum really gets to the heart of the evil, a murder sequence that is off camera strikes all the right terrifying notes, and a quite brilliant passage that sees witnesses come face to face with the killer in Conway's office is superbly performed by all involved. Then there is the finale that plays out at night (naturally) at the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park. Wonderful!
Portman (A Canterbury Tale/Dear Murderer) was a British treasure, an actor whose career begs for reappraisal by classic film fans. Here he is right on the money as the complex sociopath who detests what he has become and even dangles clues for the police to follow. Yet he also slips easily into society with a measured calmness that is rather chilling. Portman quite simply is excellent. As are Culver and Holloway as the sort of coppers Britain could do with having more of these days!
With Pressburger as part of the writing team it’s no surprise to find the script tight and the dialogue snappy, Huntington (The Upturned Glass) and Greenbaum (Night and the City) never miss the chance to accentuate the psychological tremors by way of smart visuals, and Spoliansky's music is devilishly spectral like. It probably could have been shorn of ten minutes and the Dulcie Gray/Derek Farr romance gets a little twee at times, but this is well worth checking out and deserves to be better known. 8/10
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00