Attempt to Kill ** (1961, Tony Wright, Derek Farr, Richard Pearson, Freda Jackson) – Classic Movie Review 13,326

The 1961 British Edgar Wallace Mystery crime thriller film Attempt to Kill stars Derek Farr as Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Minter, who investigates who is out to swindle and kill a rich businessman (Richard Pearson).

Director Royston Morley’s 1961 British Edgar Wallace Mystery crime drama film Attempt to Kill features Tony Wright, Derek Farr, Richard Pearson, and Freda Jackson. The screenplay by Richard Harris is based on the 1929 Edgar Wallace novel The Lone House Mystery. It is part of the 48 film series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios from 1960 to 1965.

Derek Farr stars as Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Minter, who investigates the case of the conman or conwoman out to swindle and possibly kill a businessman.

Richard Pearson also stars as the wealthy businessman Frank Weyman, who fires one of his employees, Fraser (Denis Holmes), who is getting fresh with Elisabeth Gray (Patricia Mort), the younger woman he wants to marry if only his wife Mrs Weyman (Freda Jackson) will grant him a divorce.

But then someone tries to murder Frank Weyman, and he calls in Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Minter (Derek Farr) and Sergeant Bennett (Clifford Earl). The fired man becomes the prime suspect, but then he is murdered. An amiable seeming garage mechanic called Gerry Hamilton (Tony Wright) is always calling in and hanging around.

Attempt to Kill is an only very modest Edgar Wallace Mystery crime drama film, with some plodding performances and a routine thriller plot. Nevertheless, it is an acceptable, cheaply made London-set crime thriller, solidly enough based by screen-writer Richard Harris on Edgar Wallace’s novel The Lone House Mystery.

The well-plotted, complicated story, the house by the Thames river setting, and some of the cast make this watchable but entirely routine mystery stand out just a little. Derek Farr is the brightest spot in an engagingly oddball turn as Detective Inspector Minter. He also is amiable seeming, but with flashes of sharpness and edge, so Farr suggests that it is a courteous veneer, a polished polite act concealing a steely dogged determination to crack the case. Just look at the contemptuous way he treats his subordinate, Sergeant Bennett!

Richard Pearson is conscientious and makes some headway in a rather dull, whiny role as the overweight, middle-aged victimised Frank Weyman. But Tony Wright, Denis Holmes, Patricia Mort and even the normally formidable Freda Jackson are desperately dull and unpersuasive. Yet Allan Jeager as gardener, Grace Arnold as housekeeper and Trevor Reid as bank manager have very little to do, but they do it well.

The problem is, both the performances and the handling are just too low key for an exciting mystery thriller. There’s no tension or thrills here, though there is mystery.

The cast

The cast are Derek Farr as Detective Inspector Minter, Tony Wright as Gerry Hamilton, Richard Pearson as Frank Weyman, Freda Jackson as Mrs Weyman, Patricia Mort as Elisabeth Gray, J G Devlin as Elliott, Clifford Earl as Sergeant Bennett, Denis Holmes as Fraser, Allan Jeager as gardener, Grace Arnold as housekeeper, Trevor Reid as bank manager, and Frances Bennett as barmaid.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,326

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