Change Partners *** (1965, Zena Walker, Basil Henson, Anthony Dawson, Kenneth Cope) – Classic Movie Review 13,290

Zena Walker, Basil Henson, Anthony Dawson, and Kenneth Cope star in the compelling 1965 British Edgar Wallace Mysteries murder thriller Change Partners.

Change Partners is a talky and contrived but still really quite enjoyable and compelling 1965 British black and white crime/ murder thriller directed by Robert Lynn and starring Zena Walker, Basil Henson, Anthony Dawson, and Kenneth Cope. It is written by Donal Giltinan and made at Merton Park Studios and included as a part of the long-running 48 film series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries.

Zena Walker is a class act as the murderous, scheming, manipulating Lady Macbeth of the film, Anna Arkwright, who is having an an affair with her husband’s business partner, and concocts a plan to do away with her husband and her lover’s wife, making out that they were lovers too, killing each other in a lover’s suicide pact.

Ben Arkwright (Anthony Dawson) and Ricky Gallen (Basil Henson) are partners in a design firm, but Ricky is having an affair with Ben’s wife, Anna. The affair is stalling, so Anna talks Ricky into killing her alcoholic husband, but they are being spied on, stalked and then blackmailed by a greedy lowlife Joe Trent (Kenneth Cope) and his girlfriend Betty Gallen (Jane Barrett).

Zena Walker’s performance of calculating malice is a sight for sore eyes. The actors are good, way good enough, but nowhere near as good, not in her tremendous league. Henson, Dawson, and Cope are all quite quirky actors, with unique flavours, which is very much on their side. Zena Walker seems such a nice woman, which makes her malice seem so much more plausible and chilling. You really can see why Henson has fallen for her, and obediently does her evil bidding. These are all fascinating characters – and actors.

The plot is, as usual, convoluted and involved, entirely artificial and unbelievable, just a movie concoction, but more than reasonable enough for old-style Brit crime entertainment value. Most of the scenes and dialogue are good, though it does slightly falter at the end as it gets more contrived and bizarre. It’s a shame there’s a let-down at the end. Basil Henson’s charge of heart is completely unbelievable, and he’s got some rotten lines here too that defeat him, leading to over-acting. But it is the one weak/ bad moment in an otherwise pretty enjoyable thriller, maybe very enjoyable thriller.

Unusually, there us no investigating police inspector. There is no investigator. It is not really a mystery film at all.

The cast are Zena Walker as Anna Arkwright, Basil Henson as Ricky Gallen, Anthony Dawson as Ben Arkwright, Kenneth Cope as Joe Trent, Jane Barrett as Betty Gallen, Pamela Ann Davy as Jean, Peter Bathurst as McIvor, Graham Ashley as police constable, Josephine Pritchard as Sally Morrison, James Watts as waiter, and Vivien Lloyd as secretary.

Change Partners is directed by Robert Lynn, runs 63 minutes, is made by Merton Park Studios, is distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors, is written by Donal Giltinan, is shot in black and white by James Wilson, is produced by Jack Greenwood, and is scored by Bernard Ebbinghouse.

It is made in the studio at Merton Park Studios, London, with some outside filming.

Final film of Jane Barrett (1922-1969).

Release date: July 1965.

The Edgar Wallace Mysteries 

There were 48 films in the British second-feature film series The Edgar Wallace Mysteries, produced at Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated and released in cinemas between 1960 and 1965.

• Urge to Kill (March 1960)

• Clue of the Twisted Candle (September 1960)
• The Malpas Mystery (October 1960)
• Marriage of Convenience (November 1960)
• The Man Who Was Nobody (December 1960)
• Partners in Crime (February 1961)
• The Clue of the New Pin (February 1961)
• The Fourth Square (June 1961)
• Man at the Carlton Tower (July 1961)
• Clue of the Silver Key (August 1961)
• Attempt to Kill (September 61)
• Man Detained (October 1961)
• Never Back Losers (December 1961)
• The Sinister Man (December 1961)
• Backfire! (February 1962)
• Candidate for Murder (February 1962)
• Flat Two (February 1962)
• The Share Out (February 1962)
• Number Six (April 1962)
• Time to Remember (July 1962)
• Solo for Sparrow (September 1962)
• Playback (September 1962)
• Locker Sixty-Nine (September 1962)
• Death Trap (October 1962)
• The Set Up (January 1963)
• Incident at Midnight (January 1963)
• The £20,000 Kiss (January 1963)
• On the Run (February 1963)
• Return to Sender (March 1963)
• Ricochet (March 1963)
• The Double (April 1963)
• To Have and to Hold (July 1963)
• The Partner (September 1963)
• Accidental Death (November 1963)
• Five to One (December 1963)
• Downfall (January 1964)
• The Verdict (February 1964)
• We Shall See (April 1964)
• The Rivals (May 1964)
• Who Was Maddox? (June 1964)
• Face of a Stranger (September 1964)
• Act of Murder (September 1964)
• Never Mention Murder (November 1964)
• The Main Chance (November 1964)
• Game for Three Losers (April 1965)
• Change Partners (July 1965)
• Strangler’s Web (August 1965)
• Dead Man’s Chest (October 1965).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,290

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