A Question of Suspense

Another garrulous crime quickie made at Ardmore Studios disinterred by Talking Pictures, but a good cut above their dire 'Enter Inspector Duval' screened two nights ago.

This makes less attempt to conceal it's Irish provenance, and boasts some attractive location work, as well as a formidable female lead in Noelle Middleton, who transforms herself from a mouse into a fox by the time-honoured ruse of leaving her glasses off and changing her hairstyle.

It's a likeable thriller with a brisk tempo and fluent dialog all the way, the intrigue being transparent though as soon as Frank is gone missing. Peter Reynolds makes a perfectly credible performance as a double dealer in every way, while he is taken aback by the appearance of Noelle Middleton, the love of his youth and of his colleague Frank's, when she takes him by surprise by demonstrating herself as Frank's wife. Peter never thought he had one and least of all the one they both adored as youngsters. Well, she isn't really Frank's wife, but they did find each other again in mature days and started being together, so she has reasons enough to worry about him like a wife. You really start to worry already when he and Frank go out together to the sea with a pickaxe and a shovel and start digging like for a hidden treasure of their youth, and your darkest misgivings will gradually materialise. It's a sinister drama dressed in elegance, Peter Reynolds is a rich man who can afford being generous, and it takes some time before he starts to suspect any threat to his illusions. It's a great pastime, like any Agatha Christie thriller, and you will find all the pieces fitting into the jigsaw puzzle with a few shocks for a solution.

Norman Rodway comes in to see his old friend and employer Peter Reynolds. He knows that Reynolds has been backing his operations with forged bonds, and threatens him with exposure and jail unless they go into partnership. Reynolds agrees, and when Rodway tells him they must destroy the forged bonds, agrees again. They go to Reynolds' beach house, talking of their adolescent love, Noelle Middleton. There, Reynolds kills Rodway and buries him in the sand. Now, with Rodway gone, when the police discover the forgery, it looks like Rodway did the forgeries and a bunk. Things are looking well for Reynolds, when Miss Middleton turns up; she had been living with Rodway for seven years after the disappearance of her husband, and doesn't think he did the things he is accused of. All Reynolds can think of is a chance to have his teen-age fantasies come true.

There's little suspense in how the story goes, but there is a good deal in if and when Miss Middleton figures things out and whether she can convince the police. For such an inherently slight -- albeit bloody -- story, it's well acted and shot under the direction of Max Varnel.

The less you know about the story, the more you are likely to enjoy it. At little more than an hour long, this is a brisk little thriller powered by a decent story. The acting is variable, with the lead doing most of the heavy lifting, but with some decent sets, location shooting (in Ireland) and a plot that rattles along like a clockwork toy this passes the time agreeably enough.

While not an especially well-known feature, Max Varnel's briskly entertaining 'A Question of Suspense' proves itself to be a lively, capably acted, terrifically twisty-turny Noirish British crime melodrama from the more than capable director of the no less absorbing Anton Diffring-led B-thriller 'Enter Inspector Duval' (1961), while, perhaps, not quite as dynamic as the latter, this dastardly nefarious tale concerning demonstratively shady business dealings, and callous murder remains a smart, effective, if a little routine 60s B-Thriller, and while somewhat formulaic in style, it still simmers along politely to an amusingly theatrical climax! While the talented cast all equipped themselves rather splendidly, once again, I was taken by the sinisterly smooth acting stylings of the delightfully charismatic actor Peter Reynolds as the devilishly glib, Machiavellian heel Jim Tellman Drew, and the ravishing brunette Yvonne Buckingham is certainly easy on the eye! This is most certainly a worthwhile watch for rabid fans of vintage British crime drama.