TondaCoolwal

My brief review here is practically the same as the one I wrote for the first episode of the new series of Bergerac. And for the same reason. So, if you want to save time, just read that.

Along the lines of Murder She Wrote/Miss Marple/Aurora Teagarden etc. Cora Felton is The Puzzle Lady, a famous crossword compiler who has coincidentally moved into a country town where an apparent crossword clue has been left on the body of a murdered girl. Naturally, in the world of detective fiction, the police ask for her help. Aided by niece Sherry and local newspaperman Anton Grant, Cora gets on the case only to be warned off once she starts poking around an old incident . Now, Cora isn't squeaky clean; she gets drunk and smokes but at 90 minutes in, she comes out with an F-bomb. No advance warning and as usual completely unnecessary. Ruined the whole ambience of the character. So I switched off without knowing who did it. Do I have to assume now that any two-hour drama which runs from 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm will now inevitably include strong language without warning?

Strange how many reviewers have compared this film to Brighton Rock but, no-one has mentioned its similarity to the real-life murder case in which Dr H. H. Crippen had a romantic liaison with another woman, murdered his brassy wife and buried her body in the cellar.

That aside, I cannot fathom why I have never seen this movie before. It is a veritable gem showing a slice of post-war life that will be familiar to the baby-boomer generation. Wonderful shots of old Blackpool for atmosphere. I expected to see my dad in the crowds; he was always there!

Must say Douglass Montgomery as Jim Harding was rather boring. No personality compared with the other characters. Diana (Patricia Burke) his tarty, ambitious wife was a definitive study in selfish bitchiness. Candy floss seller Jeannie (Hazel Court) though basically a nice girl, wasn't above partaking in the old physical when it suited her. In fact as someone else pointed out, the movie is amazingly frank for the time. The camera pans across a tumbled bed to Jim's jacket draped on a chair. Jeannie walks in wrapped in a man's raincoat carrying a breakfast tray. Then Jim comes through the door doing up his collar. He has to leave for work. Says it all. No rolling or writhing about needed.

The basic plot is that chemist Jim is fed up with Diana leeching off him and he wants to be with Jeannie. Diana won't let him go until it suits her. I.e. When her nonexistent acting career has revived. Coincidentally she is addicted to weight loss pills which are dangerous to the heart. Jim tampers with the pills just before she is about to take a trip to London, but then regrets his actions and tries to warn her. He later finds her dead at their flat and disposes of the body. Did he do her in? The police think so and gradually the net closes around him at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and ultimately among the girders of the iconic Tower where he is confronted by opportunist spiv Johnny (an unconvincing Kenneth Griffith). Surely someone will plunge to their death? Wonderful tension right up to the end. Well worth a look. Even if only to feast your eyes on the delectable, pre-Hammer Hazel Court!