Downfall *** (1964, Maurice Denham, Nadja Regin, T P McKenna, Peter Barkworth) – Classic Movie Review 13,314

Merton Park Studios’ lean and mean 1964 British ‘Edgar Wallace Mystery’ murder thriller film Downfall stars Maurice Denham, Nadja Regin, T P McKenna, and Peter Barkworth.

Director John Moxey’s lean and mean 1964 British ‘Edgar Wallace Mystery’ second feature murder thriller crime drama film Downfall stars Maurice Denham, Nadja Regin, T P McKenna, and Peter Barkworth.

The screenplay is by Robert Stewart, based on a story by Edgar Wallace, building in a few surprises and quite a bit of suspense. The film is part of the 48 film series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios.

Maurice Denham stars as the brilliant barrister Sir Harold Crossley, who defends car driving instructor Somers (T P McKenna) against charges of sexual assault and murder. Crossley then hires him as a live-in chauffeur and brings a gun into the house in the hope that he will murder his scheming, faithless, flirtatious young wife, Lady Crossley (Nadja Regin).

Downfall is a most enjoyable series entry, with that fine actor Maurice Denham showing his class in the subtle star turn, using his unusual voice and face so expressively he feels totally real, making the far-fetched plot feel totally real, and Nadja Regin vamping gloriously in support. Maurice and Nadja form an unusual but impressive double act.

No one else has anything much to do, they’re just there, chewing the scenery, rather than bringing their stock characters to life. T P McKenna and Peter Barkworth (as Somers’s solicitor) are first-rate actors, but there’s little they can do here. Victor Brooks is good but hasn’t got enough to do as the cynical Inspector Royd.

The film is smoothly handled by Moxey, and efficiently written by Robert Stewart with not an ounce of flab. But Denham is not only the star turn, he’s the whole show, and the film-makers are lucky to have him, and so are we. His star presence is a great, civilised pleasure.

It might be an Edgar Wallace Mystery, but there is no mystery, no puzzle to work out, or twists. It’s just a straightforward crime film, with a bunch of entertainingly obnoxious characters, and a fairly devious plot to match them. Why doesn’t Crossley just divorce his wife? He’s after revenge on her, and he wants justice on Somers, whom he believes is a murderer, even though he tells everyone he could only have defended him knowing he was innocent. A psychiatrist warns that Somers is a women hating psycho, but actually the psycho is Crossley.

The cast

The cast are Maurice Denham as Sir Harold Crossley, Nadja Regin as Suzanne Crossley, T P McKenna as Martin Somers, Peter Barkworth as Tom Cotterell, Ellen McIntosh as Jane Meldrum, Iris Russell as Mrs Webster, Victor Brooks as Inspector Royd, Ian Curry as Haldane, John Bryans as Arlott, Cavan Malone as driving instructor, Anthony Ashdown as reporter, Jon Luxton as photographer, John Miller as Lord Hinchcliffe, Anthony Pendrell as doctor, and G H Mulcaster as elderly man.

Maurice Denham (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002)

Nadja Regin  (2 December 1931 – 6 April 2019)

Thomas Patrick McKenna (7 September 1929 – 13 February 2011)

Peter Barkworth (14 January 1929 – 21 October 2006)

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 13,314Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com