Inspector Hornleigh

In the 1930s and 40s, B-mystery films were very, very common. There also tended to be some cliches in most of them, such as having a cop (or cops) who is a total idiot and a guy who announces he's going to tell the police everything...and you KNOW he'll soon be dead before he can do so!! This picture has both of these but still manages to be entertaining and novel on occasion.

The most novel thing about the story is the initial crime. Someone has stolen state secrets...specifically, Britain's budget before it is officially released. Why could this be a problem? Well, someone knowing about this spending could capitalize on it in the stock market. But when this doesn't happen, you know that there's a bit more afoot.

The Inspector is played well by Gordon Harker and he is assisted with an absolute idiot, Sergeant Bingham (Alastair Sim). Again and again, the Sergeant reveals his stupidity and Hornleigh solves the case with just about no help whatsoever from Bingham. Per the genre, Bingham is the comic relief cop.

Is it worth seeing? Yes. While far from a must-see, it's a pleasant little crime picture. And, if you like this, the studio made several other Hornleigh pictures....though I have yet to see any of these.

I wonder how many people have been fooled, over the years, that Alastair Sim stars in this movie as the title character; in fact, he plays Inspector Hornleigh's dimwitted sidekick (imagine a dumber Doctor Watson), and the role is largely a waste of his considerable talents. The film itself is stuffy and creaky, with a mystery plot that's uninteresting and murky. *1/2 out of 4.

Re-watched "Inspector Hornleigh" (1939) with Gordon Harker and Alastair Sim. This is the first of three "Inspector Hornleigh" films made 1939-1941. I've seen this one twice before. For modern tastes, may have a tad too much lightness and comedic input simultaneously delivered with dramatic incident. Alastair Sim is the butt of many retorts of Hornleigh (Harker). Many, many of the scenes are ended with a tersely comic, almost satirical bent, and though British films were ubiquitous with such tropes in the early sound period, as were a number of Hollywood films of like character, today's films have definitely gone away from such progression unless they have the light-hearted nature of Roger Moore's Bond films. Those retain a certain similar flavor. This one has a murder, and through the intrepidness of Harker, plus some little help from his partner, Sim, they find their nemesis. However, I must admit, from the first time through to this time, the solution seems like a fix to the whole, a tad too easy, and certainly not the person anyone would suspect. The ending happens as if - oops, we've spent the budget; wrap it up. It's a fun little film, but it's just that: a little film. Great actors in a secondary film. The fact that two sequels were made: well, that just shows you how good the actors are! The film's a lot of fun. Just don't expect "Citizen Kane"...

This is the first of the three Inspector Hornleigh films that Fox produced in England from 1939 to 1941. Gordon Harker plays the Inspector who is a keen collector of rare postage stamps. He is disturbed while he is bidding for a rarity at an auction to be given the news that there's been a stabbing at Hendon boarding house in North London. Hornleigh discovers that the stabbed man called Hendry like to keep his room locked for most of the time. The Inspector has to find out what Hendry was keeping secret.

The case develops when it is discovered that the Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget plans have been leaked. This would cause some individual or organization to make a killing on the Stock Market and make a huge dent in Britain's economy. The Chancellor'scase containing the budget plans must have been switched with an imitation case while he was having a meeting at the Pheasant Inn. Hornleigh has to retrace the Chancellor's movements there and to detect who was in the best position to make that switch.

I can't say that any of the characters really took my interest. When the action moves to a leather shop it gets a bit more intriguing. The attack on Sergeant Bingham (Alastair Sim) in an alleyway is another good scene in the film. I didn't guess the murderer and I think it will surprise most people. But I have to say I prefer Gordon Harker's Inspector Elk character in the 'Return of the Frog' mystery.

I am a sucker for a good whodunit, and "Inspector Hornleigh" was an excellent one. It had an elaborate plot and I could not guess the murderer until... come to think of it, I didn't guess the murderer until it was revealed at the end of the picture, so well-written was the screenplay. And, brother, it was written, and written, and...

This picture was loaded with dialogue, enough for 2 or 3 pictures, but in the end I felt it was all worth it. I enjoy Gordon Harker more each time I see him and he is very convincing when playing a police inspector. Here he is Insp. Hornleigh of the title, and he was every bit as good as he was as Insp. Elk in "The Frog" (1937). He is aided by Alastair Sim, playing his weak-minded sidekick police sergeant. Speaking for myself, I did not mind his antics, as films of the 30's and early 40's often tried to blend comedy and mystery, more often than not a futile effort, I have found. But it worked here.

The rest of the cast was competent, although two of the suspects looked very much alike, causing occasional confusion. Another reviewer mentioned that the sets looked cheap - that may be, but I gave it a pass and was not conscious of an effort to pinch pennies in any phase of the production.

All in all, a worthy effort and worth your while, because I always feel that, ultimately, the play's the thing, don't you?