Le signe du trigone

A Scotland Yard inspector is called on to investigate a series of unsolved robberies and the death of her lady colleague previously tracking down the case, and ends up at the country manor of an eccentric noble English family, sharing their castle with a mysterious sisterhood.

Crazily convoluted thriller that also mixes several styles from crime and action to romance and black comedy, and is peopled by mainly dislikable eccentrics. Eventually, somehow all these elements combine to produce an enjoyable rehash of Edgar Wallace and a general air of slickness and competence.

Edgar Wallace wrote some fine old English murder mysteries and practically invented the genre with the glorious exception of Sherlock Holmes. He was a pretty prolific author and The Trygon Factor was one of his stories.

Sadly this souped up modern version updated for the swinging London 60s just doesn't cut it. Stewart Granger stars as the Scotland Yard Inspector on the trail of one of his own gone missing and stumbles on a nice smuggling racket run by a most eccentric landed gentry family and a convent who share the same real estate.

It's a fine kettle of fish when the aristocracy has to use one of its stately homes of England for some racket. But when aristocrats fall on hard times they'll do anything short of day labor.

Not even Robert Morley and Cathleen Nesbit can save this. And Susan Hampshire as a love interest for Stewart Granger is absurd.

March 2024

Only just got to see this for the first time, so i assume its a hard title to get hold of and presuambly doesnt appear on tv very often, if at all.

I like to see all the British stuff of this period featuring some of those well known actors such as Robert Morley, James Robertson Justice and Allan Cuthbertson.

I didnt know this was a Krimi actually, but that probably is why i liked it so much and i am a huge giallo fan.

I was expecting more of a typical British comedy, it maybe had a couple of light hearted moments but was a crime thriller.

Well i really enjoyed it and will watch again at some point, its not a typical film for the likes of some of the British actors in it but it is a good one none the less.

7.5 pairs of black gloves out of 10.

A Scotland Yard detective (Stewart Granger) is investigating a string of robberies and a murder, and the information he uncovers leads him to the estate of a wealthy but strange English family, who share their mansion with a group of nuns. The detective comes to suspect that neither the family nor the nuns is quite what they seem to be.

Quite an oddball mystery film that can be confusing, character motivations can be hard to fathom and there's a lack of sharpness in the plot, but on the other hand, it's strangeness can be entertaining and there's a dash of creativity at work. There's nice decor, location and a sinister atmosphere- and some black humour. Stewart Granger is his usual charming self and makes this a distracting watch.

Not a lot of people know that while Merton Park were making their black & white Edgar Wallace adaptations during the early sixties two separate series were being made in Germany with the emphasis in their case being more on sinister hooded figures and the like.

At about the time that the series at Merton Park came to its conclusion for the next couple of years the German adaptations continued with contributions from the British; which accounts for a hybrid like The Trygon Factor', which was in colour with a cast containing Brits like Stewart Granger and Allan Cutherbertson but a very Germanic ambience. And a revelation of the identity of the killer at the conclusion that's a real doozy.