House of Blackmail

Despite the menacing title, William Sylvester's first stint as a virile & good-humoured 'B' picture leading man (actually billed second to squirrel-faced Mary Germaine) in this droll A. C. T. Quickie shot at Nettlefold is generally a pretty light-hearted affair, with an annoyingly jaunty score noisily emphasising the fact.

Although set in the usual enormous house, Maurice Elvey's uninspired grouping of his cast as they chatter away (including Denis Shaw as a gentleman's gentleman who makes Parker look like Ronald Colman), the film seems long and cramped, although cameraman Phil Grindrod as usual delivers in the dramatic scenes after dark.

Really feels quite a bit earlier than the 50s and the cheap film stock doesn't help matters any. It's not just that though. The plot itself reminds me of 30s films, as does the soundtrack. I know I recently said this about a previous film I watched but this is very Edgar Wallace, Maybe I only feel that way because I've been reading him lately but then again his impact on mysteries and thriller since the 20s is not only undeniable but prodigious. This is quite an entertaining little film, falling squarely into the Mystery/whodunit genre and not really veering anywhere towards noir or even thriller. So it's good but quite safe. I'm thankful there's not too much comedic relief, as there often is with films of this kind, but it isn't dark or energetic either. A solid middle of the road mystery film.

This low budget British film is quite well done. The script, acting, direction, photography, and editing are all first rate.

Carol Blane (Mary Germaine) drives to a dark old mansion to meet with blackmailer Markham (Alexander Gauge). He has a 200 pound check forged by Carol's irresponsible brother Billy (Barry Wynne). Along the drive Carol picks up seeming hobo Jimmy (William Sylvester). She soon comes to believe that he is a notorious escaped convict. Carol offers him 50 pounds to go to the mansion with her and pose as her lawyer. Then, he can steal the check rather paying the blackmailer. Jimmy agrees. At the mansion they meet Markham, Dr Welich (Hugo Schuster) and overbearing American Peter Carter (John Arnatt). Also on hand are sneaky butler Bassett (Dennis Shaw) and maid Emma (Ingeborg von Kusserow). Soon, Markham is murdered and everyone distrusts everyone else. Jimmy pretends to be Carol's fiancé as well as her lawyer. Eventually, the police will have to be notified. What will happen to Jimmy then? Is he really an escaped convict? Is everyone else who they claim to be? Who done it?

Also in the cast is Patricia Owens as Joan, Carol's roommate and model. In her first scenes, she is posing for Carol wearing a gorgeous evening gown that is worth seeing. Patricia brings an intensity to her role and she really dominates every scene that she's in. The viewer will definitely notice Patricia Owens in HOB.

I watched HOB on a DVD that I got from the Amazon. The picture quality and sound were both excellent. Watch HOB if you get the chance. It will keep you interested from the start to the plot twist at the end.

From the theme music I was expecting a comedy but it turned into an above average thriller I thought the 2 leads bounced off each other well and mary germaine held her own as genuine costar but the other men in the house were poorly written.but with the short run time it didn't drag and held my attention throughout.

Carol picks up a hitchhiker, and realizes he might be the escaped prisoner they are describing on the radio. She is on her way to meet a blackmailer, who expects a payoff for not ratting out her brother, who has written bad checks under someone else's name. So when someone gets murdered, everyone in the house tries to figure out who-dunnit. And the house is rigged so that no-one can leave and no-one can use the telephone. Quite the mystery. Can the group of people stuck in the house figure it all out before the cops show up? It's pretty good. We don't really get many clues along the way, but it's fun to watch. Directed by maurice elvey. Wikipedia tells us he was around right at the start of silent films, and produced and directed many silents and talkies in england and murrica. Story by allan mackinnon. He had quite a few stories made into film. Imdb lists his death at age 43 in 1955, but wikipedia thinks he died in 1980. Pretty big difference... and that's another mystery right there.