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Urge to Kill
UK 1960
produced by Jack Greenwood for Merton Park Studios, Anglo-Guild Productions
directed by Vernon Sewell
starring Patrick Barr, Howard Pays, Terence Knapp, Ruth Dunning, Anna Turner, Christopher Trace, Margaret St. Barbe West, Yvonne Buckingham, Laura Thurlow, Kenneth Midwood, Wilfrid Brambell, Brian O'Higgins, Rita Webb, Maggie Rennie, David Lander, David Browning
screenplay by James Eastwood based on the novel Hughie Roddis by Gerald Savory and the play Hand in Glove by Gerald Savory, Charles Freeman
Merton Park Studios' Edgar Wallace Mysteries
review by Mike Haberfelner
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A girl is murdered, her throat slit with a shard of glass while home
from cinema one night, and everybody in town is quick to suspect mentally
challenged Hughie (Terence Knapp), who has been seen collecting shards of
glass near the scene of the crime frequently, for reasons unknown -
everybody but Hughie's aunt B (Ruth Dunning) and the residents of her
pension, conservative bible-basher Mr. Forsythe (Wilfrid Brambell) and
debonnair ladies' man Ramskill (Howard Pays), with the latter even
defending Hughie in public. Of course, when Hughie sneaks out of the house
a few evenings later, Ramskill sneaks out as well - to meet up with a
girl, lure her into a shack, brutally murder her, and then lay out
evidence that points to Hughie. Now everybody is convinced that Hughie's
the killer, everybody but the investigating Superintendent Allen (Patrick
Barr) - who ultimately leaves Hughie with Ramskill, but Ramskill lets
Hughie escape to meet up with yet another girl (Margaret St. Barbe West)
and murder her, right at the pension, and again he tries to put the blame
on Hughie. However, Allen has by now figured out Ramskill and can prove
him guilty, while the girl hasn't actually died but can act as a witness
... A very routine murder mystery where the killer's revealed
way too soon, this film has actually a rather theatrical quality to it,
inasmuch as little care has been put into the camera setups that hardly
are more than functional, while using no more than a handful mostly indoor
locations, most likely to keep the budget down. On the plus side, the
movie captures life of lower income communities in the UK rather well,
even if that might have been just a by product of its own financial
restraints. Interestingly, this film was somehow sucked into
the series of Merton Park Studio's Edgar Wallace adaptations, even
if it has nothing to do with any story or novel written by the man.
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