Murder in Eden (film)

Last updated

Murder in Eden
Theatrical release poster for film Murder in Eden (1961).png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Max Varnel
Written byH.E. Burden
Based ona story by John Haggarty
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Walter J. Harvey
Edited by Robert Jordan Hill (as Robert Hill)
Music by Wilfred Burns
Production
companies
Bill and Michael Luckwell Ltd.
Distributed by J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (UK)
Running time
63 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Murder in Eden is a 1961 British mystery film directed by Max Varnel and starring Ray McAnally, Catherine Feller and Yvonne Buckingham. [1] It was written by H. E. Burden based on a story by John Haggarty.

Contents

An art critic is murdered and a reporter helps Scotland Yard hunt for the killer. [2]

Plot

The Woolf Art Gallery is promoting an exhibition of paintings under the title "The Garden of Eden". A man stares intently at a picture of Eve forming one of a pair representing Adam and Eve by a Dutch artist Van Meerwick. After he discovers a famous painting is fake, a noted art critic is killed by a hit-and-run driver. Inspector Peter Sharkey of Scotland Yard joins forces with French magazine reporter Geneviève Beaujean to investigate.

Geneviève spends a lot of time at the gallery. It is revealed she is not a real reporter. The police find a portfolio belonging to the dead man. It states the best forger is Michael Lucas but his work is revealed by the use of zinc white.

Michael Lucas has the real Eve hidden in a secret room in his seaside villa. He has promised to sell it to Bill Robson and shows him the secret room. Geneviève listens to them chat from the secret room. She has a gun. The police arrive and hear her crying.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "What with unapt dialogue, tangled construction, melodramatic playing and unconvincing art work, direction as clumsy as is Max Varnel's here could scarcely make matters worse. The thinly disguised Irish accents of many of the cast and the wholesale use of Georgian Dublin exteriors for a thriller ostensibly set in London add an extra layer of unreality to the bogus art world portrayed." [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas van Leyden</span> Dutch painter (1494–1533)

Lucas van Leyden, also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very accomplished engraver.

<i>Green for Danger</i> (film) 1946 British film by Sidney Gilliat

Green for Danger is a 1946 British thriller film, based on the 1944 detective novel of the same name by Christianna Brand. It was directed by Sidney Gilliat and stars Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Rosamund John, Leo Genn, and Alastair Sim. The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in England. The title is a reference to the colour-coding used on the gas canisters used by anaesthetists.

<i>Murder at the Gallop</i> 1963 British film by George Pollock

Murder at the Gallop (1963) is the second of four Miss Marple films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was based on the 1953 novel After the Funeral by Agatha Christie, with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Charles "Bud" Tingwell as Inspector Craddock and Stringer Davis as Jane Marple's friend Mr Stringer returning from the previous film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray McAnally</span> Irish actor (1926–1989)

Ray McAnally was an Irish actor. He was the recipient of three BAFTA Awards in the late 1980s: two BAFTA Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor, and a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor for A Very British Coup in 1989. In 2020, he was ranked at number 34 on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

<i>The Shadow of the Cat</i> 1961 British film by John Gilling

The Shadow of the Cat is a 1961 British horror film directed by John Gilling and starring André Morell and Barbara Shelley. It was photographed in black-and-white by Arthur Grant. Produced by Hammer Film Productions, it was released in May 1961 on a double feature bill with Curse of the Werewolf.

<i>The Whole Truth</i> (1958 film) 1958 film by John Guillermin

The Whole Truth is a 1958 British-American thriller film directed by John Guillermin and starring Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Donna Reed, Gianna Maria Canale and Peter Dyneley. It was based on the 1955 play of the same title by Philip Mackie.

<i>Girl in the Headlines</i> 1963 British film by Michael Truman

Girl in the Headlines is a 1963 British detective film directed by Michael Truman and starring Ian Hendry, Ronald Fraser, Jeremy Brett, and Jane Asher. It is based on the 1961 novel The Nose on my Face by actor Laurence Payne.

<i>Enter Inspector Duval</i> 1961 British film by Max Varnel

Enter Inspector Duval is a low budget 1961 British crime film directed by Max Varnel and starring Anton Diffring, Diane Hart and Mark Singleton.

<i>Urge to Kill</i> (film) 1960 British film by Vernon Sewell

Urge to Kill is a 1960 British second feature serial killer film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Patrick Barr, Ruth Dunning and Terence Knapp. The screenplay was by James Eastwood based on the 1942 novel Hughie Roddis and 1944 play Hand in Glove, both by Gerald Savory.

<i>Solo for Sparrow</i> 1962 British film by Gordon Flemyng

Solo for Sparrow is a 1962 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Gordon Flemyng and starring Glyn Houston, Anthony Newlands and Nadja Regin, with Michael Caine in an early supporting role. It was written by Roger Marshall based on the 1928 Edgar Wallace novel The Gunner, and produced by Jack Greenwood and Abhinandan Nikhanj as part of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series.

<i>The Sinister Man</i> 1961 British film by Clive Donner

The Sinister Man is a 1961 British crime drama film directed by Clive Donner and starring Patrick Allen and John Bentley. It was one of the series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries, British second-features, produced at Merton Park Studios in the 1960s.

<i>Scotland Yard Investigator</i> 1945 film by George Blair

Scotland Yard Investigator is a 1945 American crime film directed by George Blair and starring C. Aubrey Smith, Erich von Stroheim and Stephanie Bachelor. Following the outbreak of the Second World War the Mona Lisa is moved to a London gallery for safekeeping, where a German art collector attempts to steal it. The film was a loose sequel to Republic's 1944 thriller Secrets of Scotland Yard with a number of the same cast and crew.

<i>Fate Takes a Hand</i> 1961 British film by Max Varnel

Fate Takes a Hand is a 1961 British anthology drama film directed by Max Varnel and starring Ronald Howard and Christina Gregg. It was written by Brian Clemens and produced by The Danzigers.

<i>Web of Suspicion</i> 1959 British film by Max Varnel

Web of Suspicion is a 1959 British crime film directed by Max Varnel and starring Philip Friend and Susan Beaumont. It was written by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard and produced by The Danzigers.

<i>The Child and the Killer</i> 1959 British film by Max Varnel

The Child and the Killer is a 1959 British low budget second feature crime film directed by Max Varnel and starring Patricia Driscoll and Robert Arden. It was written by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard and produced by The Danzigers.

<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>No Safety Ahead</i> 1959 British film by Max Varnel

No Safety Ahead is a 1959 British film directed by Max Varnel and starring James Kenney and Susan Beaumont. It was written By Robert Hirst and produced by The Danzigers.

<i>See How They Run</i> (2022 film) 2022 film by Tom George

See How They Run is a 2022 comedy mystery film directed by Tom George, written by Mark Chappell and produced by Damian Jones and Gina Carter. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson, and David Oyelowo.

<i>A Question of Suspense</i> 1961 British film by Max Varnel

A Question of Suspense is a low budget 1961 British black and white crime drama "B" film directed by Max Varnel, based on a story by Roy Vickers, starring Peter Reynolds, Noelle Middleton and Yvonne Buckingham.

<i>Night After Night After Night</i> 1969 British film by Lewis J. Force (Lindsay Shonteff)

Night After Night After Night, also known as Come Nightfall, He Kills Night after Night after Night, and The Night Slasher, is a 1969 British thriller film directed by Lindsay Shonteff and starring Jack May, Justine Lord and Gilbert Wynne.

References

  1. ↑ "Murder in Eden". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "Murder in Eden (1962) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. ↑ "Murder in Eden". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 28 (324): 131. 1 January 1961 – via ProQuest.


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.