Crime on the Hill

The local squire dies. His American ward, Sally Blane, inherits. Then in comes Phyllis Dare. She and the dead man had been secretly married for a few weeks, so she inherits, although she promises to take care of Miss Blane. The younger woman is just as pleased, because her fiancé, Anthony Bushell, had called off their engagement, angry that he was thought a fortune hunter. Local vicar Lewis Casson preaches a sermon on false witnesses, and things are going along swimmingly, until the body is exhumed, and the cause of death turns out not be be a heart attack, as Doctor Nigel Playfair had thought, but poison. The police settle on Bushell as the murderer and he is found guilty. Then....

It's a mediocre mystery programmer, but director Bernard Vorhaus does a fair job of translating it from a stage play, making use of a small village and appurtenances, some nice natural sets that have the Doctor and vicar fishing at the beginning and settling up the characters quickly. No one is more than a brief sketch, but for a one-hour movie, it's well acted and shot by DP Clause Friese-Greene.