Plot

A former British agent is employed at the Fenton country estate where he aids Fenton's niece in eluding the police after she's unjustly accused of murdering a local gamekeeper.

After Secret Service agent David Somers is fired, he takes a quiet job with the Fentons at their country estate - cataloging butterflies, hence the title insect. David grows fond of Jess Fenton's niece, a fragile, fey young woman named Sophie. Because he hates traps of any kind, he reacts quickly after Sophie is framed for the murder of Hick, the nasty handyman. He helps her escape London by using his agent's skills and a network of old friends. The pair lead the police and David's ex-employers an exciting chase, from Newcastle to the Lake District to Liverpool. As the fugitives try to catch a ship for France, everyone, including the murderer, join in the finale.—Mike Rogers <MICHAELPEM.@aol.com>

One of a series of films where Jean Simmons plays an intriguing female role, or Trevor Howard or Kenneth More play a capable English hero who rescues the female in distress. Here we get all three. Post-war was a time when some great art-house formula movies were made in London, with familiar actors playing archetypal characters in well-scripted black and white dramas with a good plot, to celebrate how good chaps always win over the baddies in different carefully crafted scenes. Trevor Howard has just served his country as a secret agent, putting life and limb on the block, until he meets with a disapproving stab in the back by the more authoritarian administration, where he is still obliged to address the self-important chaps as sir. The film evokes the atmosphere of bomb-damaged London at this time, with the sound of the foghorn on a barge on the foggy River Thames orchestrating grim scenes of the docklands. The Lyons corner house cafe in Piccadilly is where the good and bad meet in the West End. The plot thickens: the hero gets a new job (in his MG TC sports car) to catalogue a butterfly collection in a posh residence out in the countryside where the more respectable members of society live. The plot grips you as the couple are chased across hill and dale by the police, as Jean Simmons is suspected of murder until the true unsuspected culprit is revealed. The film of course ends with a dramatic scene on a factory roof top where the innocent young lady is rescued by our hero to live happily ever after.—albionstudio