The Malpas Mystery

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The Malpas Mystery
The Malpas Mystery (film).jpg
Directed by Sidney Hayers
Written by Paul Tabori
Gordon Wellesley
Based onnovel The Face in the Night by Edgar Wallace
Produced by Julian Wintle
Leslie Parkyn
Starring Maureen Swanson
Allan Cuthbertson
Geoffrey Keen
Cinematography Michael Reed
Edited byTristam Cones
Music by Elisabeth Lutyens
Production
companies
Independent Artists
Langton Productions
Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • October 1960 (1960-10)(UK)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Malpas Mystery is a 1960 British second feature ('B') [1] crime film, directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Maureen Swanson and Allan Cuthbertson. [2] The screenplay was by Paul Tabori and Gordon Wellesley, based on the 1924 Edgar Wallace novel The Face in the Night .

Contents

Although originally made by Independent Artists at Beaconsfield studios, it was included in the Merton Park series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries. [3] [4] It went on general release on the ABC Cinemas circuit on 17 September 1961 supporting Raising the Wind (1961).

Plot

When Audrey Bedford is released from prison, she finds herself embroiled with mysterious doctors, missing heirs, diamonds and murder. Her step-sister has dubious motives for letting her stay with her, an employer wants to pay her to work for somebody else, and a detective, convinced that she was wrongly convicted, tries despite her protests to protect her from further trouble.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "As intriguing as most films featuring an apparently maimed, shaggy and faceless recluse holed up in a derelict house, The Malpas Mystery grips because a sparkling pace manages to conceal most of its narrative shortcomings. Slightly above the average of Merton Park's recent Edgar Wallace adaptations, it is competently made [and] maintains its air of mystery." [5]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Intriguing mystery melodrama. ... The plot is a tangled skein, but the cast and drirector quickly unravel it in circumstances that furnish all round lively entertainment." [6]

Variety said: "Very complicated plot, involving jewel thieves and the reunion of a father with a long-lost daughter can be followed if attention is paid. Maureen Swanson makes an appealing heroine, her vulnerability adding to the suspense." [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 236. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "The Malpas Mystery". British Film Institute Collection Search. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Edgar Wallace Mysteries Volume 1". www.dvdbeaver.com.
  4. ↑ "The Malpas Mystery (1961)". BFI. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "Breakout". Monthly Film Bulletin . 28 (324): 23. 1 January 1961.
  6. ↑ "The Malpas Mystery". Kine Weekly . 523 (2778): 10. 29 December 1960.
  7. ↑ "The Malpas Mystery". Variety . 255 (1): 6. 31 December 1962.


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