Three Cases of Murder

I love the way Eamonn Andrews, in his introduction, saunters over to the mantelshelf, picks up the cigarettes and lights one! How better to make him seem to be acting naturally in the 50s?

Story 1 is intriguing and disturbing but a bit too long. Some of the flat spots add to the suspense and atmosphere, but some are just flat spots.

Agatha Christie has spoiled us for the likes of Story 2. I'm sure most people see the twist coming a mile off. The only sub-standard section.

A great actor and a master storyteller come together to produce something special in Story 3, marginally better than Story 1 and thus best of the bunch.

The first, "The Picture", stars Alan Badel as a wonderfully devilish character who breaks the glass on a painting in a museum and then sits and waits for the guide (Hugh Pryse) to notice. Milquetoast Pryse is fascinated by this eerie painting of a stark dark house on a hill. Little does he know Badel is the artist (deceased) who's going to take him 'inside' the painting and into the bizarre house where the structure and it's inhabitants are a little 'off'. There's very dark comedy in the house without lights, and the conclusion is spooky enough to stay with the viewer.

Tale two, "You Killed Elizabeth", is a more typical plot: two men are in love with the same woman. She's murdered, but which one did it? And how? There's a nice little twist at the end, but this is reminiscent of several 40's films about being 'set up'.

The third segment, "Lord Mountdrago" gets a lot of attention because of it features Orson Welles. Welles plays a powerful pompous politician who gleefully belittles younger lawmaker Alan Badel (yes..him again). He then begins having recurrent dreams, in which Badel has the upper hand. The dreams are so disturbing, he seeks help to no avail, and feels his life unraveling in his waking hours. The end is interesting, but the dream sequences are a bit overboard, with Welles' hamming it up, and too many choruses of "Daisy Bell". Evidently, Welles pretty much took over the directing of the scenes from George O'Ferrall.

Overall, it's an interesting watch and the wonderfully disturbing performances of Badel in two stories are noteworthy.

This trilogy of supernatural murders is interesting but not essential. Everybody is ok to say that the first segment is the best with that story of alive painting, really creepy. The second segment is the less interesting, story of two men competiting for the same woman, one of them having black holes (kind of William Irish story). And the last one is the most overlooked thanks to Orson Welles in this nightmare comedy story, it seems it is directed by Welles himself. Alan Badel is the threatening link between these three segments. Not a masterpiece but entertaining.

British anthology from the 1950's when the world was black and white, smoking was considered healthy & most people spoke with a plum in their mouths. Eamonn Andrews introduces three stories. The first is about a mysterious painting in an art gallery, the second a love triangle and the third a deadly tale of two political enemies. The first & third feature the supernatural. Each riveting story features a different director but they are all of a high calibre. I think it would have been slightly better had the second story also featured the supernatural, but only a minor quibble. As a film fan of over 35 years I only discovered this gem when it was screened on British TV two days ago. Superb.

'Portmanteau' films used to be all the rage and provided a means by which producers could entice patrons with the prospect of seeing a series of mini-films for the price of one. The innate problem with these types of films is that they are bound to contain segments that are weaker than others. Notable exceptions that spring to mind are 'L'Oro di Napoli', 'Souvenirs Perdus' and 'Dead of Night'.

Having directed a short called 'The Stranger left no Card' with Alan Badel, director Wendy Toye has here been assigned the first segment in which Mr. Badel again appears. It concerns an unsuspecting museum guide being literally 'drawn into' a landscape painting with dire consequences. It is an imaginative, well-scripted and distinctly unsettling piece with a splendidly stylish performance by Mr. Badel.

I am not alone I am sure in regarding the next segment as the weakest. There is a neat twist at the end although the casting is bizarre. The theme here is 'cherchez la femme' but John Gregson simply fails to convince as a Don Juan and Elizabeth Sellars as 'la femme' does not exactly quicken the pulse. Alan Badel does a turn as Harry the barman.

Now we come to the main course.

'Lord Mountdrago' featured in a collection of short stories by W. Somerset Maugham published in 1940. Two other stories in the set had already been dramatised in 'Quartet' and 'Encore'.

This is one of the master storyteller's most gripping tales and is told by Dr. Audlin in the shape of a duologue between him and his patient Mountdrago, minister of foreign affairs, whose life is being blighted by nightmares and feelings of persecution. Needless to say this dramatisation has been fleshed out considerably so as to include characters and incidents only referred to during the consultation. The man causing Mountdrago sleepless nights is an MP that he has humiliated during a debate in the House. He is played by Alan Badel, again displaying his versatility. He is a member of the Labour party so naturally has to have a regional accent, in this case Welsh. André Morell gives a beautifully understated performance as Dr. Audlin and Mountdrago is the magnetic Orson Welles. He certainly looks the part as Maugham describes the character as 'having somehow the look of one of the Bourbon sovereigns of the 18th century.' Ironically Welles was to play Louis XV111 in 'Waterloo'.

Although George More 0'Ferrall is credited with the direction this whole segment has director Welles written all over it.

Georges Perinal supplies atmospheric cinematography and the editing by Gerald Turney-Smith is excellent throughout.

The rather strange choice of Eamonn Andrews as the link man prompted one witty critic to suggest that the title of this opus should have been 'This is your Death'!