Who Was Maddox?

One of the more caustic sixties adaptations of Edgar Wallace, as exemplified by the extremely unprofessional way the police treat the killer after they've finally nailed him.

Wallace had already been dead for over thirty years and this 'updated' version seems also to belong to a vanished era when Finlay Currie was still making films and a magazine retailed for 3d.

I'm inserting reviews for films I'v seen that currently lack one, so here goes... Edgar Wallace mystery, not one of the better ones, involves blackmail & murder, fair. Not the most comprehensive of reviews it's true, but I saw it on itv 25th Jul 1983; and would probably have forgotten it a week later not to mind 32 years. The Director made only one other feature, another E.Wallace entry Accidental Death (1963), The only cast names I recognize are Finlay Currie and Bernard Lee; It's a fairly obscure title, there is no official DVD release, but hopefully someone will track it down and write a more informed review.

A publisher is nearly framed for murder, but he appears to have been goaded by the blackmailer who has also blackmailed the publisher's wife (Suzanne Lloyd). The trail in discovering the culprit leads to a blackmail plot and some jewel thievery as well. But inspector Meredith is on the case.

Bernard Lee reprises his role of an inspector between his Bond escapades and is his usual reliable self, adding gusto to the proceedings. It's watchable, however the mystery is quite complicated, to the point I had to rewind a few times. It's also quite dull at times, though Lee and Suzanne Lloyd try their best to lift it out of ordinary.

1964 was the year of the beehive, and all the female cast members have hairstyles bigger than their heads. The plot meanders about, but enjoy the locations like London zoo, a very 60s rock garden and the usual houseboat on the river. Jack Watling is good as the main character, Jack Heath, who gets a phone call tellling him his boss has been murdered. He turns up only to find the boss alive and well. But then he's murdered later that night, and Heath is accused. Bernard Lee is always worth watching.

Jack Heath is a company director. One evening as he returns home with his wife an ex-model. Jack finds that their house has been broken into. Some jewellery has been stolen.

Jack works for his wife's uncle's publishing company. Jack has had a dispute with uncle Campbell as Jack believes that his magazine is failing.

One night Jack gets a phone call telling him that uncle Campbell has died. When Jack gets to his house, uncle Campbell is very much alive.

The next morning Jack has been visited by the police telling him that uncle Campbell was murdered. Jack is in the frame.

The mysterious Maddox is a blackmailer who demands money from Jack's wife. Maybe he is setting up Jack?

This is another convoluted Edgar Wallace Mystery but it comes across as so routine and talky. The pace is pedestrian.

There is almost no action save from Bernard Lee's detective tripping a baddie into a river.