Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday

An ancient fossil of a police detective movie, of exclusive interest today for the participation of Alastair Sim, although this "lame-brained sidekick to the title detective" role is hardly one of his better ones. The plot, which unfolds with all the speed of a paralyzed sloth, turns out to be mind-numbingly stupid. * out of 4.

This is the second of the Inspector Hornleigh films, starring Gordon Harker. His assistant Bingham is played by Alistair Sim.

The two men are spending a delightful holiday by the sea - indoors. The tides are six feet high. Storms rage. Winds howl.

The men are staying in a guest house in Balmoral - one of the people there is a Captain Fraser of the Royal Navy. One night he receives a phone call and rushes out, taking his pet dog along with him.

Attempting to have a vacation, Hornleigh and Bingham are there under assumed names. However, when the man's car is found wrecked at the foot of the cliff, they are taken into custody to identify the body. The body is burnt beyond recognition, but the men take note of the fact that the dog was not in the wreck.

Hornleigh reveals himself to be a police detective and gets to work helping the locals.

It turns out to be part of a complicated plot. Harker and Sim are very funny, Sim especially, and the plot has a few interesting twists.

I will be looking forward to seeing the other two in the series.

Filmed at the peak of Gordon Harker's popularity(Inspector Hornleigh)this was probably the strongest of the three Hornleigh films. Hornleigh and assistant Sergeant Bingham (Alastair Sim)are on holiday staying in a guest house in a wind swept coastal town. Initially trying to overcome the boredom they attempt to play Billiards and mix with the other guests which provides plenty of opportunity for Sim to get laughs with his unusually simpleton like character.Fraud and murder are soon on the agenda and despite his initial reluctance to get involved Hornleigh is soon on the case. A fascinating glimpse of what could have been had Harker & Sim remained a team,as they had all the attributes of a great double act.In the guises of Hornleigh and Bingham they are unique as a deadly serious and intelligent superior and a complete buffoon assistant although if one looks beneath the surface comparisons can be drawn with Laurel & Hardy or even Abbot & Costello albeit without the slapstick knock about farce of these better known pairings. I would recommend this film highly and feel it is a tragedy that it is not currently available in any format.Prints do exist and are very occasionally broadcast on regional British T V.If you do get the chance to view this film you will be treated to an excellent light hearted suspense movie with some fine atmospherics of the time,also a couple of very dated performances from the supporting cast most noticeably Wally Patch as a simple British bobby,however I feel that this only adds to the films aged charm and hope that all three Hornleigh films will be available before too long.

In the second of three movies, Gordon Harker and his very Scotch assistant, played by Alastair Sim, are enduring a rainy vacation in Brighton. One of their fellow guests is killed in a car accident, and the pair are called in to identify the body. Harker suspects murder; when Sim spots the dead man walking on the street, the two investigate.

Inspector Hornleigh was invented as a radio serial puzzle mystery for the BBC. The movies, under the direction of Walter Forde, turned them into comic efforts. They were produced by Twentieth Century-Fox; like Warner Brothers and MGM, they were producing movies in the years leading up to the Second World War.

Although the Hornleigh movies were well received and the talent involved was topnotch (Sidney Gilliat and FrankLaunder are two o the writers) and Harker & Sim make an amusingly contrasting pair of coppers, I don't find the movie to be of much greater than average competence; some o the details of the mystery seem to be more melodramatic than intelligent and Sim's character began to pall quickly. Perhaps that's why he turned down any further efforts after the following episode.

My wife and I are on a mega B&W "screen in" at the moment (mostly British - the preferred genre) and Saturday nights are like the old cinema used to be! Without the usherette.

However, the two previous reviewers have said just about everything you need to know about this film - Harker and, especially, Sim are superb.

Look out for the very subtle and much underplayed joke with the billiard cue - classic! Had me bursting out with laughter when I noticed it, and I'm sure this was the deft touch of Alastair Sim.

Minimum of ten lines of text it said! So, what more can be said apart from looking out for actors like Kynaston Reeves (the 'beak' in the BBC television's 1950s Billy Bunter) and many much loved uncredited character actors such as Irene Handl, Peter Bull, Megs Jenkins, Derek Farr et al. I wouldn't put the duo of Harker and Sim quite in the Laurel and Hardy league but it is a great shame that there were only three made.

Is that enough to post?