Model for Murder

Last updated

Model for Murder
"Model for Murder" (1959).jpg
U.S. poster
Directed by Terry Bishop
Written byTerry Bishop
Robert Dunbar
Peter Fraser (story)
Produced byRobert Dunbar
Jack Parsons (as C. Jack Parsons)
Starring Keith Andes
Hazel Court
Michael Gough
CinematographyPeter Hennessy
Edited by Helga Cranston
Music byWilliam Davies
Production
company
Jack Parsons Productions (as Parroch)
Distributed by British Lion Film Corporation (UK)
Release date
  • February 1959 (1959-02)(UK)
Running time
73 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Model for Murder is a 1959 British second feature ('B') [1] crime film directed by Terry Bishop and starring Keith Andes, Hazel Court and Jean Aubrey. [2] It was written by Bishop and Robert Dunbar from a story by Peter Fraser.

Contents

Plot

American sailor David Martens, on shore leave in England, visits his brother Jack's grave. He meets fashion designer Sally Meadows, who by coincidence works with Jack's ex-fiancée, Diana, a model.

Successful stylist Kingsley Beauchamp and financial backer Madame Dupont own the company where Sally and Diana are employed. Expensive borrowed diamonds are to be worn by Diana when she models a new dress, but Beauchamp hires two men, Costard and Podd, to break into the safe after hours and steal the gems.

Diana stumbles on the robbery, and Costard kills her with a knife and knocks David unconscious. Beauchamp decides to frame David for the theft by placing the murder weapon in his pocket and crashing a car with David inside, having reported it stolen.

While the police make David a prime suspect, Beauchamp and Costard dispose of Diana's body and the diamonds. When David starts to suspect them they decide to murder him using gas, but Sally saves him.

Diana's body is found in a river. David goes to Costard's home and discovers the missing dress worn by Diana. He knows that Beauchamp is about to fly to Amsterdam, so he hurries to the airport. Costard is there, being double-crossed while Podd smuggles the jewels on Beauchamp's behalf. The police arrive in time to arrest all three.

Cast

Production

Filming took place on a three-week schedule [3] at Shepperton Studios, and on location in London and Surrey.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This routine thriller leaves little to the imagination, and leans far too heavily on coincidence for its suspense mechanics to work satisfactorily." [4]

In British Sound Films, David Quinlan wrote "Spirited cast can't do very much with very routine thriller." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazel Court</span> English actress (1926–2008)

Hazel Court was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and American horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Terence Fisher's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) for Hammer Film Productions, and three of Roger Corman's adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories for American International Pictures: The Premature Burial (1962), The Raven (1963) and The Masque of the Red Death (1964).

<i>The Shakedown</i> (1959 film) 1960 British film by John Lemont

The Shakedown is a 1959 black and white British crime-drama film directed by John Lemont, starring Terence Morgan, Hazel Court, and Donald Pleasence. A ruthless crook runs a blackmail operation, falls for an undercover cop, and is murdered by one of his victims.

<i>Time Without Pity</i> 1957 British film by Joseph Losey

Time Without Pity is a 1957 British film noir thriller film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Leo McKern, Paul Daneman, Peter Cushing, Alec McCowen and Renee Houston. It is about a father trying to save his son from execution for murder.

<i>Hour of Decision</i> (film) 1957 British mystery film directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards

Hour of Decision is a 1957 British mystery film directed by C. M. Pennington-Richards and starring Jeff Morrow, Hazel Court and Anthony Dawson. It was written by Norman Hudis based on the 1954 novel Murder in Mayfair by Frederic Goldsmith.

<i>The Broken Horseshoe</i> (film) 1953 British film by Martyn C. Webster

The Broken Horseshoe is a 1953 British "B" crime film directed by Martyn C. Webster and starring Robert Beatty, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter Coke, and Hugh Kelly. It was based on a BBC television series of the same title from the previous year. A surgeon is drawn into a murder case.

<i>Tread Softly</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film

Tread Softly is a 1952 British second feature ('B') crime film with musical overtones, directed by David MacDonald and starring Frances Day, Patricia Dainton and John Bentley. It was written by Gerald Verner based on his novel The Show Must Go On. A chorus girl investigates a series of mysterious happenings at a derelict theatre.

<i>Eyewitness</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Muriel Box

Eyewitness is a 1956 British thriller film directed by Muriel Box and starring Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, Belinda Lee, Michael Craig, Nigel Stock and Richard Wattis. It was Produced by Sydney Box for the Rank Organisation.

<i>Saloon Bar</i> 1940 British film by Walter Forde

Saloon Bar is a 1940 British comedy thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Gordon Harker, Elizabeth Allan and Mervyn Johns. It was made by Ealing Studios and its style has led to comparisons with the later Ealing Comedies, unlike other wartime Ealing films which are different in tone. It is based on the 1939 play of the same name by Frank Harvey in which Harker had also starred. An amateur detective tries to clear an innocent man of a crime before the date of his execution.

<i>Blood Orange</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Terence Fisher

Blood Orange is a 1953 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Mila Parély. The screenplay was by Jan Read. A private eye investigating a jewel robbery at a London fashion house finds himself involved in a murder mystery.

<i>Murder by Proxy</i> 1954 British film by Terence Fisher

Murder by Proxy is a 1954 British 'B' film noir crime drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Dane Clark, Belinda Lee and Betty Ann Davies. The film was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Helen Nielsen. It was produced by Hammer Films, and released in the United States by Lippert Pictures.

<i>Time Is My Enemy</i> 1954 British film by Don Chaffey

Time Is My Enemy is a 1954 British crime film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Dennis Price, Renée Asherson and Patrick Barr.

<i>The End of the Line</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film by Charles Saunders

The End of the Line is a 1957 British second feature crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Alan Baxter, Barbara Shelley, Ferdy Mayne and Jennifer Jayne. The screenplay was by Paul Erickson. It was released in the USA in 1959.

<i>The Delavine Affair</i> 1955 British film by Douglas Peirce

The Delavine Affair is a 1955 British second feature crime film directed by Douglas Peirce and starring Peter Reynolds, Honor Blackman and Gordon Jackson. The screenplay was by George Fisher and Basil Boothroyd, based on the 1952 novel Winter Wears a Shroud by Robert Chapman.

<i>Murder in Reverse</i> 1945 British film

Murder in Reverse is a 1945 British thriller film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring William Hartnell, Jimmy Hanley and Chili Bouchier. It was written by Tully based on the 1931 story Query by "Seamark".

<i>Radio Cab Murder</i> 1954 British film by Vernon Sewell

Radio Cab Murder is a 1954 British second feature crime film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Jimmy Hanley, Lana Morris and Sonia Holm. It was made by the independent Eros Films.

<i>The Great Van Robbery</i> 1959 British film by Max Varnel

The Great Van Robbery is a 1959 black-and-white British crime film starring Denis Shaw and Kay Callard, directed by Max Varnel. It was written by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard and produced by The Danzigers.

<i>The Betrayal</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film by Ernest Morris

The Betrayal is a low-budget 1957 British film directed by Ernest Morris and starring Philip Friend and Diana Decker. The screenplay was by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard.

<i>The Hostage</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Harold Huth

The Hostage is a 1956 British crime film directed by Harold Huth and starring Ron Randell, Mary Parker and John Bailey. It was written by Alfred Shaughnessy,

<i>Deadly Record</i> 1959 British film by Lawrence Huntington

Deadly Record is a 1959 British second feature crime drama directed by Lawrence Huntington, starring Lee Patterson and Barbara Shelley. It was written by Vivian A. Cox and Huntington based on the 1958 novel by Nina Warner Hooke. It aired in the US in the Kraft Mystery Theatre TV series.

<i>Profile</i> (1954 film) 1954 film

Profile is a 1954 British second feature thriller film directed by Francis Searle and starring John Bentley, Kathleen Byron and Thea Gregory. A murder mystery set in a magazine publishers.

References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 156. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Model for Murder". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "British Production". Kinematograph Weekly: 20. 18 September 1958.
  4. ↑ "Model for Murder". Monthly Film Bulletin . 26 (300): 47. 1 January 1959.
  5. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 347. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.