"Please!!....can't you put more feeling into your death scene"!! - and
unfortunately for Parsons, he puts too much feeling into it, he is
murdered!!
A pristine print makes this an enjoyable view - not only is there a
murder but it must have been an interesting peek for audiences at the
workings etc of the BBC - there's even a variety show with a bevy of
beautiful, talented chorus girls (going through their routine in a
professional way). The lovely Eve Becke shows she had a way with a
song but the highlight for me is the beautiful Elisabeth Welch singing the
sultry "Lazy Lady" with all the muscians thoroughly enjoying the
performance.
The murder investigation plays out among the beautiful Art Deco settings
of Broadcasting House, led by a very believable performance from Ian
Hunter as Det. Insp. Gregory (Hunter was so good in British movies, it's
only when he went to Hollywood, he turned stodgy and boring). The rest
of the cast lived up to the way audiences of the time probably felt they
spoke and behaved - very toffy, elocution lesson stuff. Val Gielgud,
writer of the original book and screen play, gave himself a plum role as
Julian Caird, the play's ("Murder Immaculate") producer and his
performance shows why he spent many years as BBC's Head of Sound
and Drama but didn't venture in front of the camera too often.
The victim, Parsons, was a professional blackmailer and an interesting
plot twist was having the leading man, Leopold Dryden as being very
unlikable and slipping out of the recording studio at around the time of
the murder. Played fittingly by Austin Trevor who was the first actor to
portray Hercule Poirot on film. Rounding out the cast was Peter Haddon
who excelled in "silly ass" types and provided the movie with it's
supposed humour as a top hatted gent looking for an alibi!! Jack Hawkins
at the beginning of his career, he's Bert Evans, in a sizable part one of
the actors and someone who has a crush on the leading lady and
Henry Kendall as the playwright, with wit as dry as crisp toast and also
with a very healthy yen for Mrs. Dryden (a pretty and dewy eyed Mary
Newland). And then there's Mrs. Dryden - has she anything to hide in her
past? Just why is she so upset when Gregory finds an old playbill!!
