Never Back Losers

I thought this Merton Park Films 'B' feature was worth a 7/10 rating as it held my interest for its duration of about 50 mins. or so.I was 14 in 1960 when the star of "The World of Tim Fraser" (Jack Hedley) was transmitted as a TV series by the BBC and this Francis Durbridge series is still remembered by this 70 year viewer along with a few other reviewers apparently.The world of fixing horse races and accompanying crooked betting by gangsters is an oft repeated theme.The TV commentary appeared to be by the late Peter O'Sullivan who regularly commentated on horse racing on "Grandstand" the flagship BBC sports Saturday TV programme.

My goodness what a dangerous job insurance investigation work was portrayed by the media back then in 1961 with no danger money paid and working for only £15 per week! As my captioned Summary title series was transmitted in 1960 it appeared that for the plot of "Never Back Losers" private investigator Tim Fraser, was in training. P.S. I always like to see again cars from this era and see if I can remember the makers model type.Alas so many British marques have now disappeared.

A UK thriller in the American way. A private detective investigates on the accident of a jockey just after a race where he lost. And not only him, but also a bunch of guys who bet on him. Everything is predictable here, but it's not bad after all. It looks like a US piece of work, with a score adequate to the situations; little jazzy enough to keep some interest to the atmosphere. Gals, gangsters, handsome private eye snooping around, you have already seen this a billion times before, and will be after this too.

Forgettable but a pretty time waster for lonesome Sunday evenings.

I don't know the director, but I guess he made other Edgard Wallace Mystery episodes, or films.

Unfortunately "Never Back Losers" is one of the weaker efforts in the Edgar Wallace series of mysteries. Whilst most other entries feature solid acting performances, allied to a strong storyline, this film fails on both counts. The story is wayward, and doesn't really make a great deal of sense. Many of the situations depicted are simply difficult to believe, in the extreme, and the lack of progression becomes quite irritating at times. The film is also badly let down by the standard of acting. Apart from the always reliable Patrick Magee, the rest of the performances are patchy at best. Even amongst the leading players, the acting is pretty poor. Not a memorable contribution to the series at all, I'm afraid.

Another b-crime programmer from the early 1960's that was originally an episode of the British anthology EDGAR WALLACE MYSTERY THEATER, and Jack Hedley, who we follow from a boring desk job at an insurance company, becomes their mobile investigator...

And with an hour runtime, it's not long until he finds not only the villain in a slithering Patrick Magee, but ingenue Jacqueline Ellis, a bad girl initially, visiting Jack's home with an angry pistol drawn...

Turns out she's really not bad, only worried, as her brother's a jockey mixed up with a crooked gambling ring and might be the next horseman dead after the one being investigated here...

All so Magee can fix horses better than his rival, who Jacqueline Ellis worked for, and NEVER BACK LOSERS provides one of the most laidback gumshoe-types in Jack Hedley... resembling a sophisticated, leading man version of character-actor Eddie Byrne... and despite the fact he never seems pressured there's still some intrigue and suspense, and that pretty dame's always by his side.