Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress

Although this is a rather threadbare effort it does have a fairly entertaining and well thought out ending.The voice of Valentine Dyall permeates the whole film giving the clue to the film's origins.At that time many BBC radio programmes were being turned into films,often with unlikely titles such as The 20 Questions Murder Mystery.I have to say that I cannot remember a similar climax when the tables were so neatly turned on the murderer with no less than two further twists giving a very neat and ingenious ending>Too often endings seemed contrived and unsatisfactory ,but such concerns definitely do not apply to this thriller.

Another episode of the "House of Hammer" Podcast and we're still in the 1940's and with yet another adaptation of a successful radio series. This time, Dr Morelle, a fairly thin facsimile of Sherlock Holmes, but one who is blunt to the point of rude. The film is a relatively strange who dunnit (or perhaps how dunnit would be better).

Cynthia Mason (Jean Lodge) goes missing under mysterious circumstances. An old school friend, Miss Frayle (Julia Lang) comes to investigate. Having found evidence of foul play, Miss Frayle brings in her employer, Dr Morelle (Valentine Myall) a skilled sleuth who gets to the extraordinary bottom of this unlikely mystery.

There are two main problems with "Dr Morelle". The first is that the film is too long. Even at just 74 minutes it's around twice the length that the story should take. There are some interesting beats to the story, but they are padded beyond tolerance, and I kept finding that I had to force myself to refocus on the film. The second is that, by todays standards, but I'd assume from the fact that there aren't any more "Dr Morelle" films, the audience of the times too, Doctor Morelle himself is far too harsh a character, berating poor Miss Frayle (and indeed the rest of the characters) with an unlikeable superiority.

There are a few small positives, there's some fun to be had (if you're of a certain age) by the suiter in the story being called Peter Lorimer. I was genuinely surprised that the ending wasn't quite what I thought it was going to be. Unfortunately, there's far too much wading through the mud and listening to a jackass to make it a worthwhile experience overall.

As a point of interest, the character of "Dr Morelle" was created for the popular Monday night BBC radio series "Monday Night At 8" that replaced the earlier prewar "Monday Night At 7" (which introduced us to Inspector Hornleigh) that comprised a miscellany of brief lighthearted

items aimed to put listeners into a relaxed state before hearing the latest (censored) grim war front events on the 9 o'clock news - de regeur for the whole nation. The programme usually included a short spoof spy tale and,of course,breezy Ronnie Waldman's "Puzzle Corner" and that deliberate mistake... The film,itself,was another B support of the late 40s that cashed in on popular

earlier radio shows of the time,usually of moderately.if unexciting quality with acceptable production values. Others included Dick Barton,The Man In Black & Hi Gang!

The popular detective Dr. Morelle played by Valentine Dyall is our protagonist who stars in the Case Of The Missing Heiress. The story is told in flashback and in this case a bad idea because we know that the good doctor's assistant Julia Lang has had no harm befall her. Not good especially for those not familiar with the character on British radio who knows that she would have to be back for next week's episode.

Morelle fancies himself Sherlock Holmes and he has the weapon of hypnotism at his command unlike Holmes. He also has Lang as a faithful scribe of his adventures, but Watson would have walked out if Holmes had ever treated him the way that Morelle treats Lang.

In any event Lang gets a call for help from an old friend who is being kept prisoner by her stepfather and unable to see her boyfriend. The friend stands to inherit a considerable fortune, but the friend after making the call disappears. Stepfather Phillip Leamer doesn't want publicity and neither does boyfriend Peter Drury.

We find out that the butler didn't do it when butler Hugh Griffith turns up dead as well and a frantic Lang calls Dyall for help. Of course when he comes to Devonshire where the spooky estate of Leamer is located, he solves the whole mess.

Griffith is best in the cast with his performance of a slightly daft butler who walks an imaginary dog. But the film itself looks like it was slapped together rather quickly no doubt to take advantage of the radio show's popularity.

This is quite a decent little conspiracy mystery. "Cynthia" (Jean Lodge) is the eponymous heiress who has been living in the care of her controlling, wheelchair-bound, step-father "Kimber" (Philip Leaver - reminded me a little of Francis L. Sullivan). When she announces that she wishes to marry; he has to act and she promptly disappears. Her friend "Miss. Frayne" (Julia Lang) goes to investigate and puzzled by all of this, summons her employer - the hypnotist "Dr. Morelle" (Valentine Dyall) to get to the bottom of everything... It's a fairly routine mystery, and as it is told via retrospective we have little jeopardy - but it is still quite enjoyable to watch Lyall in full pomp and there are, as usual, some lovely scenes from Hugh Griffiths as the amiable, but scatty butler "Bensall". It's very much of it's time, this film - there is a condescension from Lyall to Lang that's over-egged a bit, but it doesn't spoil it too much - it's just a quickly paced, sometimes humorous, crime thriller that easily kills an hour - without killing anything else!