The Late Edwina Black

The Obsessed is a nice example of English noir and of the murder mysteries they do so well and with such style. It's a wonderful case study on how suspicious minds can mess with your head.

Schoolmaster David Farrar's wife who's a rich sickly soul is given arsenic poisoning and that brings Scotland Yard in with Inspector Roland Culver. Farrar has been carrying on for some time with Geraldine Fitzgerald who is the wife's companion.

The bulk of the film is spent with Farrar and Fitzgerald each thinking the other did it and trying to keep their relationship intact. Housekeeper Jean Cadell, a nasty old soul is sure it was one of both.

A whole lot of emotions come into play with the scenes of the two leads often at the same time, hope, fear, anger, suspicion all fueled by the wife's poisoning.

As is usual the wise Scotland Yard inspector with some forensic help sorts it all out.

Great acting especially from the two leads.

"The Late Edwina Black" is a most unusual murder mystery because instead of focusing on the accused, it focuses on three people and you see how they react to the possibility that the others are killers. Because of this, it's a great look at human nature at all its worst!

The story begins with Mrs. Black being found dead. Following her funeral, a police inspector shows up...indicating that there might have been foul play and he was having the body exhumed. It turns out that the lady's body was full of arsenic....and the remaining 80% of the film consists of the members of the household reacting to this.

The acting is very good in this one and the story quite good. My only quibble is the ending...I really think leaving it more vague would have been much more interesting following the inspector's revelation. Still, well worth seeing and fascinating throughout.

Suspicion falls on widower David Farrar and his pert young mistress (Geraldine Fitzgerald) when his sickly, shrewish wife dies of arsenic poisoning. Veteran director Maurice Elvey creates a nicely ominous atmosphere as the ghostly influence of the dead woman seems to pit the lovers against one another, but the middle act, in which Farrar and Fitzgerald grow increasingly suspicious of the other's possible motive for murder, tends to drag. Roland Culver as a dogged, no-nonsense Scotland Yard detective livens things up considerably.

This rather claustrophobic British mystery opens on the death of a chronically ill woman, Edwina Black during Victorian/Edwardian times. She is a wealthy woman, and leaves behind a large estate. We quickly learn that Edwina's widower, Gregory, and Edwina's companion, Elizabeth (Geraldine Fitzgerald) are lovers and plan to sell the house and move to London as soon as possible, marry, and honeymoon in Venice. Both Gregory and Elizabeth have no money of their own. There is also a housekeeper/nurse who has been with Edwina for years who sees what Gregory and Elizabeth have been up to, and is suspicious of their involvement in Edwina's death. Soon her suspicions have her wagging her tongue to the village folks, and Scotland Yard is brought in to investigate Edwina's death. Post mortem shows she died of arsenic poisoning, not the heart attack originally thought to be the cause of death. And so the. Inspector (Roland Culver) begins digging, and Gregory and Elizabeth are stuck there in this dark house full of bad memories until the investigation is over.

This film is rather claustrophobic, with almost all of the action taking place in the large Black estate. You never actually SEE Edwina. The short time she was alive she was behind the door of her bedroom. So all we know about her we get from listening to the three people who lived with her. From the beginning Elizabeth has felt Edwina is haunting the house, looking for a way to get back at them. And on top of it all, now both Gregory and Elizabeth are wondering if the other actually did poison Edwina, and would they be next if the actual murderer wanted to hang the killing on them.

Roland Culver is very good as the inspector. Where do all of these British films come up with such thorough cops with nerves of steel and great observation powers? For once, this is a film that works for Geraldine Fitzgerald. I never felt that Warner Brothers quite knew what to do with her. I'd recommend it.

The Late Edwina Black is directed by Maurice Elvey and adapted to screenplay by Charles Frank and David Evans from the play of the same name by William Dinner and William Morum. It stars David Farrar, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Roland Culver and Jean Cadell. Music is by Allan Gray and cinematography by Stephen Dade.

It's Victorian England and Edwina Black has just died. When a fatal dosage of arsenic is revealed to be the cause of death, suspicion falls on Edwina's husband Gregory (Farrar) and her house companion Elizabeth (Fitzgerald). More so when it becomes apparent that Gregory and Elizabeth are having a passionate love affair. Intrepid Inspector Martin (Culver) investigates as housekeeper Ellen (Cadell) looks on with interest from the shadows.

Under seen Brit period mystery resplendent with moody melodramatics and some spooky shenanigans. This is all about a mystery to be solved in a big Victorian house bathed in shadows and low lights. There is only three suspects, so for those paying attention from the off the mystery is a little weak, while there's some over acting indicative of the time.

However, Elvey and Dade prove very adept at creating a house of ominous atmosphere, where although the hinted at supernatural elements are not in the realm of horror, they work well in context of the back drop. Characterisations are nicely drawn, especially when the harmony of Gregory and Elizabeth's affair begins to crack.

It all builds to a quintessentially olde British finale, as the great Roland Culver gets to do his Hercule Poirot act, all neatly revealed over a cup of tea! Hooray! 7/10