The Delavine Affair

A light-hearted crime film that at 65 minutes ends abruptly and would actually have profited from being a bit longer.

Both Peter Reynolds and Michael Balfour are cast against type as goodies; the former as the reporter hero who stumbles across the corpse that sets the whole thing in motion, the latter as his faithful batman.

Honor Blackman as Reynolds' wife was temporarily mired in the 'B' hive before she learned judo and adopted the lioness's mane she wore for the rest of her life; while two other notable females in the supporting cast are Valerie Vernon as femme fatale Naughty Lola and Katie Johnson in one of her final supporting roles before finding screen immortality as Mrs Lopsided in 'The Ladykillers'.

It starts with a murder, but soon news service man Peter Reynolds is on the track of an old jewelry heist, along with wife Honor Blackman in this tightly plotted second feature.

The most notable thing about this short British feature is that there seems to be nothing in it that doesn't lead inevitably to the matter at hand. The other is a rare appearance by Katie Johnson -- best remembered as the old lady later that year in the classic Ealing comedy THE LADYKILLERS. She won a BAFTA as Best Actress for that role. Born in 1878, Miss Price was on the stage by 1894, where she continued to perform at least until 1935. Her first screen role was in 1932, but she was cast almost exclusively in uncredited small roles for the first fifteen years. Then she had a marvelous 1955, made one more movie in 1957, and died that year.

Typical fare for its time, one of a rush 'em out on a production line style of cheap crime thriller. It was probably considered no better than average when it was released over 60 years ago and looks even more amateurish nowadays.

Peter Reynolds stars as the enterprising reporter who unwittingly finds himself the number one suspect in a murder case. But he has one vital clue, linking the killing to a recent jewel theft, and thus turns detective in order to clear his own name and get himself a scoop in solving the crime. Aiding him are his wife and photographer friend.

The whole film looks rushed and badly under-rehearsed, and completely lacks any kind of proper pacing, ticking along at exactly the same tempo whatever the situation being played out. There's no build up of suspense, no crescendo of drama... Everything just plays out too matter-of-factly. Dialogue is delivered in a quick, unconvincing manner and is mostly very bland, not a good thing when your leading character is supposed to be witty. Many of the exchanges between characters are just big dumps of plot exposition with little regard for nuances of natural conversation or characterisation.

The police seem rather inept and incapable of action without the involvement of the reporter, Banner. The film is mostly studio-bound, and the limited number of scenes shot on location are sometimes poorly integrated with the interior shots. And certain ideas within the film are just plain daft. For example, a character hiding behind a narrow pillar so that his arms and legs still stick out. And a professional photographer trying to get shots through a glass window whilst using his flash? Good luck with that one mate, all you'll get is reflection!

Being in practically every scene, Reynolds carries a big responsibility on his shoulders and I don't think he is really up to it as his one-note performance fails to get the most out of what the script offers up. In his few scenes, Gordon Jackson shows much more skill, throwing in just a facial expression or movement of the eyes among his words that gives a far greater impression of thought processes going on, and it's a shame that he wasn't given the lead role instead. Honor Blackman, beautiful as ever, struggles a little in the earlier half of the picture when her character has too little to do but her performance improves as the material does. And it's a treat to see Katie Johnson here, albeit in a small role, just before she was to play her career-defining role in The Ladykillers.

In summation, a work that is likely only to have appeal to dedicated fans of the genre and/or the cast members present.

Rex Banner, played by Peter Reynolds, is the proprietor of a news agency and having an eye for a good story, becomes an amateur sleuth to find out who murdered his friend Gospel Joe and as a consequence, who was responsible for the theft of the Delavine diamonds sometime earlier. Joe had information about the theft and had asked to see Rex but just as Rex finds his friends body the police arrive and he is initially treated as a suspect.

I found this film quite entertaining for a mid-1950s second feature with interesting characters, good acting, decent plot and a dash of humour. Peter Reynolds, who was often condemned to playing shifty villains in British films, is able and smooth in the role of detective, keeping several steps ahead of the clueless police. I have to say that any film with Honor Blackman, playing his delicious wife, will automatically get my vote. Bit-part spotters will be pleased to see two of Britain's most prolific here. Firstly Michael Balfour reprises for the umpteenth time the hero's sidekick, helping out with a spot of research for Rex and being on hand at the finale. Then the unsung Hal Osmond lifts an otherwise routine scene with a colourful cameo as the 'old man' with the cough. In my opinion THE DELAVINE AFFAIR is a slightly above average film for the genre.

I suppose the only notable thing about this thriller is members of the cast who would go on to better things.Katie Johnson would go on to win a BAFTA for her part in "The Ladykillers".Gordon Jackson would find fame as the butler in "Upstairs Downstairs" on television and Honor Blackman would of course find fame in both "The Avengers" on television and Pussy Galore in a Bond film.Here they are just marking time in an amiable but rather involved thriller which was beloved of writers of crime fiction in the 1950sIt was the sort of film where it is quite easy to work out by a process of elimination who is the killer.It is the sort of film that would be executed far more effectively on television which would of course eventually cause the death of films of this genre at least as B features.