L'Homme au fusil

Lee Patterson is an insurance investigator.He wears a trench coat so we know he fits the bill.His investigations of 2night club fires lead him into the machinations of the mobs protection rackets.He of course clears up the case barely breaking sweat.Familiar plot which does.hold the attention.

Another in the string of second features Canadian star Lee Patterson made in British studios toward the end of the fifties. This time he's a trench-coated insurance investigator looking into the affairs of nightclub owner John Le Mesurier, one of whose premises burned down shortly after he had taken out a policy on it. Le Mesurier's daughter is played by Britain's 'B' film queen, Rona Anderson, who had been appearing in them for the best part of a decade already, making Patterson something of a novice by comparison.

Turns out the remaining nightclub, featuring a band fronted by singer Glen Mason, as well as leggy showgirls, is being targeted by gangsters involved with Le Mesurier's convicted younger brother (Harold Lang) and led by a shadowy figure whose identity is a mystery. At least Patterson's boss can furnish him with a friendly contact at Scotland Yard to back him up, something that often seems to happen in this kind of film. The script is notable as the work of the twenty year old Michael Winner, who no doubt recalled some of the dozens of similar Hollywood movies that he had viewed and reviewed up until then. So a no frills production, but enjoyable, with a good cast and tautly directed by veteran Montgomery Tully.

Lee Patterson plays an insurance investigator probing a fire at a nightclub owned by a London businessman (John Le Mesurier). Le Mesurier owns another nightclub, the Stardust Club, and that is where Patterson starts his investigation. The insurance company believes Le Mesurier may have burned down his other nightclub for the insurance money. However that theory is soon abandoned when it is learnt that a Southampton gang is trying to take over Le Mesurier's London club. The gang is led by mystery man, named Ferlarno. This gang is violent and soon resort to beatings and destruction to get their hands on the Stardust Club. The suspense comes from the police (and the viewer) trying to uncover who Ferlarno really is.

The film has it's moments but plays out a little flat. The cast tries hard, Le Mesurier is good as the nightclub owner, Patterson tries his best Bogart impersonation and doesn't quite pull it off. The script is just a little too predictable. It's a good little film, but it never manages to make you forget it's low budget origin.