Account Rendered

This strangely short murder-mystery is a good reminder of why the English film industry was so strong during this period.

The cast of relative unknowns (with the exception of a young Honor Blackman) deliver a tight story in a precise way. The sub texts of the story are not laboured, creating an involving story.

It's worth the time.

Lucille Ainsworth is married to Robert Ainsworth (Griffith Jones). She has commissioned her portrait to be painted by an artist, Clive (John van Eyssen) as a gift to her husband. Clive is also her lover.

When Lucille sees the portrait, she hates it. She goes to Hampstead Heath, where she is later found murdered.

Afraid he is going to be accused, her husband fakes an alibi with his business partner, Gilbert Morgan (Carl Bernard).

Meanwhile, Lucille's best friend (Honor Blackman) is in love with Robert. It falls to two police detectives to discover the murderer, which they do with careful police work. They trace a coat back to its original owner, and figure out how one person could be at the murder site, despite having an alibi -- too far away to reach the murder scene at the right time.

A pretty run-of-the-mill, but yet still reasonably entertaining British murder mystery, there are a few well-done bits, but not quite enough for them to really be notable. The characters, the acting and the story never rise above the ordinary, however it can at least be said that they never fall below the mark either. The special weather effects for lightning, achieved by scratching actual film, are a sight to see, even if they look quite fake. There is not much else to strongly recommend this early English film on, but if comes to television, it is perhaps worth a look. Honor Blackman would, of course, later go on to be Pussy Galore.

This is a brilliant thriller on a small scale, the restricted format of less than 80 minutes comprising a considerable mess of intrigues, as this wife already from the beginning shamelessly confesses to her infidelity, while her husband receives an alarming note which we are never initiated in, there is a reckless artist involved also who gets mixed up in some fights, and there is extortion and embezzlement, all in a wonderful complex of a mystery where everyone could be guilty wile they all are proved innocent by alibis. Honor Blackman is the leading actress here, not far from a Lizabeth Scott character, while the fast action makes it difficult for all the men involved to catch on, but it all makes sense in the end with great satisfaction to the audience after a Hitchcockian train finale.

This film was shot around Hampstead Heath.There is a glimpse of Hampstead police station.The film works as a whodunit because nearly everyone seems to have a motive to kill the victim.Though it has to be said that Griffith Jones is quids in.Losing a hated wife and gaining the delectable Honor Blackman who would go on to far better films than this.