Park Plaza 605

Norman Conquest was the improbably named hero of some fifty light-hearted, tongue-in cheek-thrillers, penned for about thirty years from the late 1930s by the prolific Edwy Searles Brooks under the pseudonym Berkeley Gray. A desperado of the Simon Templar school, Conquest was aided and abetted by his partner Joy "Pixie" Everard, while Inspector Bill Williams was the Claud Eustace Teal figure, always on the verge of at last getting Conquest behind bars, only to see the chance slip inescapably through his hands.

Now period pieces and largely neglected, (though BBC radio attempted a revival in 1998, adapting several of the stories with Christopher Cazenove as Conquest and Bonnie Langford as Joy), the books were at the height of their popularity when this film was made. There was clearly an assumption on the part of the producers that many of the putative audience would be familiar with the leading characters and stock situations, such as Norman's penchant for dangerous blondes, which Sid James as Williams teases Pixie about, while the outlandish business of Conquest accidentally bringing down the carrier pigeon whilst playing golf is entirely typical of Brooks' wacky plots.

Star Tom Conway, then pushing fifty, was, however, far older than the character in the book, so anyone expecting non-stop action was in for a disappointment. He gives his usual affable, charming performance though and it's perplexing how this most essentially British of actors is occasionally delineated as just another imported American star.

The convoluted plot, including the murder of a member of a Soviet trade delegation involving the seductive Nadia (Eva Bartok), diamond smuggling, and a Nazi war criminal could have been handled more efficiently, but Conway's charm and character actors like Joy Shelton and Richard Wattis help it along.

Production values are slightly above average for a British second feature of the day. Co-producer Albert Fennell of course later became famous as producer, and with Brian Clemens, the major creative influence on the filmed series of THE AVENGERS. It would be interesting to know if Brooks' tales of the earlier crime fighting duo of Conquest and Pixie inspired him at some level.

This review is of the US release of the film, under the title NORMAN CONQUEST. One of the many interesting UK pick-ups released by the fading Lippert Pictures in the early 50s to pad its schedule, this mystery should satisfy any fan of B-movie mysteries. Star Tom Conway made a big impression as the Falcon on film and Sherlock Holmes on radio (taking over from Basil Rathbone), and his charm and wit and style pretty much make any film he is in worth watching. The Conquest character--evidently well-known in the UK as there is no attempt to "introduce" his character in the film--has elements of Boston Blackie and the Thin Man and The Shadow (the interplay with his jealous fiancee is very Shadow-like)and Ellery Queen. He is a financially stable dabbler in detection and has a nemesis within the police force who always seeks to get him out of the way. This film should get some kind of record as the mystery begins in an outrageous manner within the first ten seconds of the film! I couldn't believe it, but you have to take films like this one with a LOT of willing suspension of disbelief, and if you go along for the ride, it's quite a bit of fun. There's still one thing I'm not sure about, though. In the scene where Conway spanks Eva Bartok, what is that little clown-like figure in the corner of the room? It's only seen once and never explained. I rewound the tape to watch the scene a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. What's going on here? In conclusion, a solid little mystery here, and one of Tom Conway's last starring roles.

This one hasn't got a lot going for it really. Despite crediting at least three writers it's pretty dull stuff with an overly-complicated plot. Tom Conway imitates his more successful brother once more. After accidentally killing a message-carrying pigeon with a golf shot (I kid you not) our suave hero ('amusingly' named Norman Conquest) decides to attend the hush-hush rendezvous mentioned in the message that is scheduled to take place at the titular hotel room. There he meets the rather fetching Eva Bartok in a bad blonde wig who quickly shoots him in the face with a spray of knockout powder when she realises he isn't the man he's supposed to be.

It gets even sillier after that, with police detective Sid James making a lot of noise for no real reason other than to pad out the already slim running time. Clues and women fall into the suave Conquest's lap, and the film is quite, erm, saucy, for its time with women bound and gagged or threatening to remove their clothes after being soundly spanked (believe me, though, it's not as interesting as it sounds).

There's quite a few familiar British faces worth looking out for (including bespectacled Richard Wattis as a bad guy), but I was struggling to stay awake less than half-an-hour into this and, by the time it finished, I was left wishing I hadn't bothered..

PI Tom Conway gets mixed up with some spy stuff involving Eva Bartok and Richard Wattis.

It's a cheap, dull affair, with an aging Conway irresistible to the ladies, and done as cheaply as possible. Tom slugs a number of men with guns, undercranked car rides go on for a minute at a time, and there's an organ score by Philip Green consisting of two bars of music repeated every now and again. Miss Bartok looks like she's fourteen years old, dressed in her mother's evening gown. His regular girlfriend, Joy Shelton, is named Pixie, but Conway always calls her 'sweetheart', like he's Bogart with an English accent. The editing is atrocious.

Sid James appears as the police detective who's perpetually exasperated by Conway. I know how he feels. By the time everything was cleared up, I didn't care.

A slick tongue-in cheek little Cold War thriller making light of the usual casualties (starting with an unfortunate courier in the opening scene) in which Hollywood's 'B' picture 'Saint' Tom Conway tangles with foxy foreign femme Eva Bartok (in a blonde wig and a tight shiny dress) and various mean-looking goons while cop Sid James looks on in helpless exasperation.