The Claydon Treasure Mystery

It is my principal to add a review for all films I've seen that at time of writing lack one, so here is my brief note made on viewing.... 'A quota quickie involving murders at the big house & the treasure of the title.' Yep not very informative, but better than nothing! I saw a 16mm print with very poor sound at the Gothique film society in London (UK) in Feb 2004, I see that there is a 35mm print available at the BFI, so in time a decent t/f to DVD may surface? Though it's only 10 years since I saw it, I have no recollection whatsoever of it, there are some 'names' in the cast Evelyn Ankers & Finlay Currie having the more prominent billing. It was the final film for the director who I had not heard of, and I am a fan of old British films.

Kerrigan (John Stuart) is an engineer who dabbles in mystery writing. His attention is turned to Marsh Manor where resides the fabulously wealthy Claydon family. A librarian who works at the Manor is found murdered. Can the death have anything to do with the famous Claydon treasure? A treasure supposedly hidden on the estate a hundred years before but never found. Lady Caroline Marsh (Annie Esmond) invites Kerrigan to the estate to solve the mystery.

There, Kerrigan encounters a vast array of suspects, including Lord Claydon (Aubrey Mallalieu), the Lord's friend Sir George (Garry Marsh), and Sir George's lovely niece, Rosemary (Evelyn Ankers). A guest in the house, Rubin (Finlay Currie), is found murdered in the library. The police are on the lookout for a mystery man known by his alias, The Duke. While Kerrigan begins to suspect that rival gangs have infiltrated the house with everyone after the famous missing treasure.

It's all played out in a pleasing fashion in the tradition of old murder mysteries. My only complaint is the transfer I saw is from an old 16mm print and there is a noticeable hiss in the soundtrack. One has to pay close attention at all times to hear the dialogue and understand what is happening.

This looks like it was made by cobbling together all those Classic British Mystery elements, as engineer and amateur sleuth John Stuart heads over to a Country Home populated with some good actors -- Evelyn Ankers, Annie Esme, Finlay Curie and, further down the cast list, Ian Fleming, Wilfred Hyde-White and John Laurie.

As you can tell from that list, it's got a cast who are willing to tell Stuart the important clue, but first they all need to get a good night's sleep; or decide to tell him whodunnit, , and just as they announce their intention to do so, they are shot; the Suspicious Suspect; and the legend of a treasure to drag like a red herring across the path to the solution. After they drag off the guilty guy, some one explains most of what happened and leaves before he finishes.

The performances are fine, as you would expect with a cast like that, but you get to see why people considered Agatha Christie a good writer for decades.

This Quota Quickie reminds me of the board game where players had to find out who killed Colonel Mustard in the library with a knife.John Stuart is a mystery writer who uses a female nom Dr plume for his book.He is invited down to a country manor to investigate a murder.The murderer is supposed to be looking for a treasure located somewhere at the house.There are more murders.One takes place when the victim is about to reveal the murderer.There are lots of familiar faces in the cast including Finlay Currie and a younger looking John Laurie with a moustache.The fact that the detective has to spend some minutes at the end of the film explaining the plot indicates how complex the plot has become.