Murder at 3am

Denis Price is visibly aging from the lean and furtive looking young leading man of the forties to the jaded spivs he later made his comeback as in this very low budget police procedural that manages a bizarre final twist despite clocking in at only an hour in length.

The low budget, general air of amateurishness and bizarre organ score by Eric Spear actually makes the film authentically creepier than better budgeted films of its era (enhanced by atmospheric photography by S.D.Onions). Making the killer motivated purely by robbery for his early morning attacks on unprotected women doesn't ring true, though (especially as Price himself had played a thinly-disguised Neville Heath a few years earlier in 'Holiday Camp').

The interesting part of this quota quickie is the presence of Philip Saville. He plays Edward King, a crime writer who is engaged to marry Joan. The sister of Inspector Lawson (Dennis Price.)

Joan had a whirlwind romance with Edward who is struggling writer and helps out Lawson in his latest case.

A series of attacks on young well to do women, all taking place at 3 O'Clock in the morning. The women were killed and robbed.

The dead women all left London nightclubs just before they shut. Edward notices a pattern regarding the names of the clubs.

Only Inspector Lawson soon suspects Edward King himself. He uses his own sister as bait to trap Edward.

It was surprising to see Price doing B movies so early in his career. This is cheap and looks cheap. It even drags out its short run time. The twist at the end is hard to take and is off the wall.

Philip Saville gave up acting by the end of the 1950s. He made his name as a television director. His landmark dramas include Boys from the Blackstuff and The Life and Loves of a She-Devil.

Police inspector Dennis Price is called on to investigate a string of murders. The victims are women, their jewelry and cash is taken, and the murders always take place about 3AM. As the investigation advances, he comes to believe the perpetrator is Philip Saville, the boyfriend of his sister, Peggy Evans.

It's a cheap quota quicky directed by uninspired director Francis Searle. Price doesn't offer much in the way of an interesting performance. He is too unemotional and efficient, with no sign of brilliance, resulting in something like a procedural movie; it's a type of mystery that doesn't appeal to me. In addition, Eric Spear has provided an overwrought score performed on the organ that is downright annoying.

Stars Dennis Price as a Scotland Yard Inspector investigating a series of murders. The killer targets lone women after they've left London nightclubs, always striking soon after 3am. The manner of killing suggests the murderer is a former commando - something that soon has the Inspector looking a little closer to home than he'd like...

Watching the police piece together what they can from the few clues available is interesting (one thing I like about these old thrillers is how they pretty accurately show the 'leg-work' involved; some while back I worked for the Metropolitan Police for a few years, and whilst the technology might have changed, the basics of how they ran their investigations really hadn't!). A good supporting cast - including Peggy Evans, Rex Garner, and Philip Saville - tops off a solid story. 6/10.

Dennis Price stars as a Scotland Yard police inspector who with sidekick Sergeant Rex Garner gets an assignment to find out who is doing a series of murders on women coming home from nightclubs in and around three o'clock in the morning. As it is barely an hour we don't get too much in the way of character development and no real great reason why the killer is doing what he's doing.

These B films as they would be called here are called 'quota quickies' on the other side of the pond. Accent on the quickie here because this film sure has a hurried quality to it. The producers just wanted to get this one off the assembly line and before the British movie-going public in a big hurry.

Complicating things is the fact that Price has a sister played by Peggy Evans who is going out with Philip Savile who comes under suspicion. Of course there's a real good reason why he's under suspicion, but I'll save that in case one wants to see it.

I have to warn you that the copy I rented from Amazon has some horrible sound quality. I hope the public when they saw it in the theaters wasn't similarly inconvenienced.