No Trace

Founded in 1948, Berman & Baker's Tempean Films got off to a flying start with this splendid little thriller which resembles an episode of 'Columbo', with secretary Dinah Sheridan as the killer's nemesis; although the police themselves (in the person of John Laurie & Barry Morse) are permitted to display more competence than usual.

As in an episode of 'Columbo', anti-hero Robert Southley (the "distinguished crime novelist") is too arrogant and condescending for his own good, and there is plenty of barbed dialogue to go around.

Ernest Butcher has a brief but memorable cameo as the neighbour who innocently blunders in, and exits blustering "No harm done"!

Recommended.

Robert Southley (Hugh Sinclair) is a crime writer who wrote a book called No Trace. He finds himself blackmailed repeatedly by an old accomplice called Fenton who is fresh out of jail.

Southley was a bad boy is his past but he is in no mood to pay again. So he buys a disguise and kills Fenton.

Southley ends up teaming with the police to investigate the murder. It is his secretary Linda (Dinah Sheridan) assisted by her husband John (Barry Morse) who dislikes Southley who end up investigating him.

Given that we know Southley is a killer. This does end up giving a Colombo feel to it. Southley is charmless, cold and aloof. Even more so when he is hanging about with the police.

So you feel little sympathy for Southley who also seems to be careless, something Fenton mentioned before he got bumped off.

There is a good cast in No Trace but his is a flatly made cheap B picture. It lacks excitement but the cast make it worthwhile.

It's always great to see a film with John Laurie of "We're doomed" fame from "Dad's Army". You just will him to say it whenever he appears - ha ha! In this film, he plays the Inspector in charge of solving a murder and takes along the rather big-headed crime author Hugh Sinclair (Robert) as part of a friendly understanding between the two. Perhaps Sinclair can solve the crime before the Inspector can? If only Laurie knew.

It's a good film with some dodgy accents thrown in - what is blackmailer Michael Brennan (Fenton) trying to do with that terrible American accent! And bad girl Dora Bryan (Maisie) exaggerates her cockney accent a bit. Still, she fits the bill as a drunken slapper. The film unravels itself with suitable tension as the cast begin to realize what has gone on thanks to the inquisitive hunches of Sinclair's secretary Dinah Sheridan (Linda) and Laurie's assistant Barry Morse (John).

We are told that everyone has a novel inside them. Just make sure you aren't completely autobiographical. Otherwise........"We are all doomed!"

A nice neat little thriller that moves well and is worth adding to any collection of British films.

Apart from the classic "Genevieve",there are too few DVD's featuring the gorgeous Dinah Sheridan.

She outshines all the other actors but that's fine by me ; here was one of the true beauties of the British screen who would most certainly have made it in Hollywood and she could act too.

A curiously different type of murder mystery. Hugh Sinclair is a successful crime writer who is blackmailed by a former criminal confederate, so he proceeds to bump him off. He thinks it is a perfect crime but his secretary (Dinah Sheridan) starts to try to piece the murder together - almost as a challenge - with him being her sleuthing mentor. As she gets closer to the truth, it all gets a little too close for comfort for our murderer... There is a more substantial role as the police inspector for John ("we're dooooomed") Laurie and a couple of cameos from Dora Bryan and Barry Morse, but the ending lets this down rather badly for me. Definitely better than the usual weekly Saturday feature, though, and well worth watching.