Dead Man's Chest (1965 film)

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Dead Man's Chest
Dead Man's Chest film Theatrical release poster (1965).png
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPatrick Dromgoole
Screenplay byDonal Giltinan
Produced byJack Greenwood
Starring John Thaw
Ann Firbank
John Meillon
Edited byDerek Holding
Music byBernard Ebbinghouse
Production
company
Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated
Release date
  • 1965 (1965)
Running time
59 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Dead Man's Chest is a 1965 British second feature [1] film directed by Patrick Dromgoole and starring John Thaw, Ann Firbank and John Meillon. [2] It is part of the series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios.

Contents

Plot

Hard-up journalists David Jones and Johnnie Gordon decide to play a hoax, faking a murder to highlight the danger of circumstantial evidence in the criminal justice system, hiding Gordon's apparently dead body in a wooden chest. But things go terribly wrong when their car is stolen, with the wooden chest inside. Panicking that Gordon will suffocate, Jones goes to the police, who think the entire story is a lie. They find the circumstantial evidence deliberately planted by Jones and Gordon as part of their original plan, and Jones is arrested for murder. Jones's wife goes to Scotland in search of Gordon's girlfriend and through her finds Gordon in hiding, working in a hotel. Jones is released.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Competently acted and presented, this B picture impresses most through Donal Giltinan's quite inventive though highly improbable story, which manages to keep the fairly intricate plot unentangled, even if there is something a little glib about the ending. An unambitious but efficient little film of its class." [3]

References

  1. Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 326. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. "Dead Man's Chest". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. "Dead Man's Chest". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 32 (372): 183. 1 January 1965. ProQuest   1305824875 via ProQuest.