The Sinister Man

Despite the foreboding title, this is one of the quirkier Edgar Wallaces, as befits director Clive Donner's later reputation for his eccentric comedies.

Shot in glorious summer sun along the Thames and in Oxford with some karate thrown in at the climax; but it could have done with less of the the noisy jazz score by Charles Blackwell.

Having watched this 1961 film, it is the one the best of THE EDGAR WALLACE MYSTERIES, to be made at the Merton Park Studios.

The plot centres around a body fished out of a London river. The victim is an Oxford Don who has been murdered in mysterious circumstances.

Superintendent Wills, the police officer in charge of the investigation finds himself in one of the most baffling cases of his career.

As he probes deeper into the case he finds it involves The British Government, a small country near the region of China/Tibet and Oxford University.

The things that I like about this film, is the use of karate that is used at the climax of the movie. It is interesting to see that Superintendent Wills is a black belt in karate.

At the time this film was made, other actors who played the typical British trilby hat police inspector, were always smoking cigarettes or a pipe.

So it made a nice change for once, to see this detective doing hand to hand combat instead of smoking.

John Bentley gives a superb performance as Superintendent Wills.

He is supported by a good cast of both British and Oriental actors.

They include Patrick Allen, Gerald Anderson, Jacqueline Ellis, William Gaunt, John Glyn-Jones, Wilfred Bramwell, John Horsley, Robert Lee, Burt Kwouk, Brian McDermott and Yvonne Shima.

The photography which was shot in monochrome is superb, and the incidental music performed by The Shadows is excellent.

The quality of this film when you watch it on dvd is good. There are no cracks or scratches on the quality of the print of this movie.

I highly recommend it for those who like a good old murder mystery.

Another episode of the EDGAR WALLACE MYSTERIES that also became a theatrical programmer, which is hard to believe since THE SINISTER MAN, never once living up to its name, is extremely episodic...

And if this were a pilot for token constable John Bentley, here investigating a dead body in a river alongside a scientific research center harboring scientist Patrick Allen and girlfriend Jacqueline Ellis, the show probably would have never been picked up...

Because the story never picks up despite being filled with eclectic, random elements... from the overall two dead bodies having been karate-chopped to a falsely accused Asian man, there's no palpable suspense or intrigue in an sixty-minute mystery without thrills, and that feels like three hours...

The best thing is seeing Jacqueline Ellis (far better with Patrick Allen in THE TRAITORS and perfect in b-crimes like THE HI-JACKERS) for over half that length, but she, like the plot-line, merely stands around going nowhere.