Accidental Death

Resembling a lovely young school teacher who "doesn't look like the teachers we had," Jacqueline Ellis is a different kind of British b-movie starlet...

And very import here as a wishbone not just between two men but three including an older man who raised her; a young passive boyfriend; and a new guy in town... or actually, in the house... as thirty-something Frenchman John Carson doesn't only have a plot to kill the old fella for war crimes, he tells him outright so the title ACCIDENTAL DEATH fits what MIGHT befall him...

Meanwhile the most fun's had between the Frenchmen (with an on/off British accent) and our gal Ellis, also from France, originally, and they have a kind of lusty windswept romance indoors, where most of the story takes place...

A polite, sophisticated DESPERATE HOURS without that much suspense, intrigue or urgency but is more a time-filler Neo Noir with a few twists and turns...

Including a lethal bicycle and an even more lethal swimming pool where Jacqueline Ellis almost winds up... the only character the audience, and the fellas, want protected...

After all, she's got the most to lose as her heart means more than the old man's life, or the Frenchman's shifty plans to end it.

Some of the Edgar Wallace films were not based on Wallace stories.This film is a case in point.It has none of the elements associated with a Wallace story,apart from which it is for the most part dull and slow.It is only in the last five minutes that the tension really increases.The film is not helped by the truly awful French accent used by John Carson.The plot strains credibility to breaking point.Not one of the better efforts

Henriette has a strained relationship with her guardian, Col. Johnnie Paxton, whose life was saved by Henriette's parents during the war. Upon returning from a party, Henriette and her boyfriend are surprised by an intruder. The intruder (John Carson) says he is here to kill the man who collaborated with the Nazis and caused the death of his fiancée.

Routine yet interesting enough with some fine performances and a cat and mouse game between John Vernon and John Carson, though some of that is hindered by some romantic interludes. A bit dullish, but there's some suspense towards the end. The finale was quite surprising and ironic.