House of Blackmail

Carol picks up a hitchhiker, and realizes he might be the escaped prisoner they are describing on the radio. She is on her way to meet a blackmailer, who expects a payoff for not ratting out her brother, who has written bad checks under someone else's name. So when someone gets murdered, everyone in the house tries to figure out who-dunnit. And the house is rigged so that no-one can leave and no-one can use the telephone. Quite the mystery. Can the group of people stuck in the house figure it all out before the cops show up? It's pretty good. We don't really get many clues along the way, but it's fun to watch. Directed by maurice elvey. Wikipedia tells us he was around right at the start of silent films, and produced and directed many silents and talkies in england and murrica. Story by allan mackinnon. He had quite a few stories made into film. Imdb lists his death at age 43 in 1955, but wikipedia thinks he died in 1980. Pretty big difference... and that's another mystery right there.

Really feels quite a bit earlier than the 50s and the cheap film stock doesn't help matters any. It's not just that though. The plot itself reminds me of 30s films, as does the soundtrack. I know I recently said this about a previous film I watched but this is very Edgar Wallace, Maybe I only feel that way because I've been reading him lately but then again his impact on mysteries and thriller since the 20s is not only undeniable but prodigious. This is quite an entertaining little film, falling squarely into the Mystery/whodunit genre and not really veering anywhere towards noir or even thriller. So it's good but quite safe. I'm thankful there's not too much comedic relief, as there often is with films of this kind, but it isn't dark or energetic either. A solid middle of the road mystery film.

Despite the menacing title, William Sylvester's first stint as a virile & good-humoured 'B' picture leading man (actually billed second to squirrel-faced Mary Germaine) in this droll A. C. T. Quickie shot at Nettlefold is generally a pretty light-hearted affair, with an annoyingly jaunty score noisily emphasising the fact.

Although set in the usual enormous house, Maurice Elvey's uninspired grouping of his cast as they chatter away (including Denis Shaw as a gentleman's gentleman who makes Parker look like Ronald Colman), the film seems long and cramped, although cameraman Phil Grindrod as usual delivers in the dramatic scenes after dark.

From the theme music I was expecting a comedy but it turned into an above average thriller I thought the 2 leads bounced off each other well and mary germaine held her own as genuine costar but the other men in the house were poorly written.but with the short run time it didn't drag and held my attention throughout.

William Sylvester used to pop up in some many British productions I always thought he was a British actor. This was until I saw him in the US movie, The Lawyer which spun off the television series Petrocelli.

Sylvester plays mysterious hitchhiker Jimmy who comes across fashion photographer Carol Blane. She is on her way to a house to talk to Markham who is blackmailing her brother for a bounced cheque. He demands £5000.

At a cafe, Carol who comes across a report of an escaped convict that matches Jimmy's description persuades him to accompany her for £50. Carol asks Jimmy to play the part of a lawyer.

They both engage with Markham and his associates. The house has a butler who likes to listen in through the keyhole. Later that night Markham is found dead. Both Jimmy and Carol are suspects.

This is an unpretentious murder mystery B movie and a rather effective one as well. There is comedy, mystery and plenty of suspects. Sylvester does well in keeping his motives mysterious.

I think the blackmail angle would had worked better, if Carol's brother was being blackmailed for being gay rather than a bounced cheque.