Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress

Another episode of the "House of Hammer" Podcast and we're still in the 1940's and with yet another adaptation of a successful radio series. This time, Dr Morelle, a fairly thin facsimile of Sherlock Holmes, but one who is blunt to the point of rude. The film is a relatively strange who dunnit (or perhaps how dunnit would be better).

Cynthia Mason (Jean Lodge) goes missing under mysterious circumstances. An old school friend, Miss Frayle (Julia Lang) comes to investigate. Having found evidence of foul play, Miss Frayle brings in her employer, Dr Morelle (Valentine Myall) a skilled sleuth who gets to the extraordinary bottom of this unlikely mystery.

There are two main problems with "Dr Morelle". The first is that the film is too long. Even at just 74 minutes it's around twice the length that the story should take. There are some interesting beats to the story, but they are padded beyond tolerance, and I kept finding that I had to force myself to refocus on the film. The second is that, by todays standards, but I'd assume from the fact that there aren't any more "Dr Morelle" films, the audience of the times too, Doctor Morelle himself is far too harsh a character, berating poor Miss Frayle (and indeed the rest of the characters) with an unlikeable superiority.

There are a few small positives, there's some fun to be had (if you're of a certain age) by the suiter in the story being called Peter Lorimer. I was genuinely surprised that the ending wasn't quite what I thought it was going to be. Unfortunately, there's far too much wading through the mud and listening to a jackass to make it a worthwhile experience overall.