Game For Three Losers *** (1965, Michael Gough, Mark Eden, Toby Robins, Rachel Gurney, Allan Cuthbertson) – Classic Movie Review 13,164

Director Gerry O’Hara’s interesting, unconventional little 1965 British B movie Edgar Wallace Mystery crime drama second feature film Game for Three Losers features Michael Gough, Mark Eden, Toby Robins, Rachel Gurney, and Allan Cuthbertson.

Michael Gough stars as poised public figure Robert Hilary, a businessman and politician, who takes on a new pretty young secretary (Toby Robins). Pride (and lust) comes before a fall, and his successful career begins to crumble after he becomes involved in shady dealings as a blackmail victim.

Although happily married to Adele (Rachel Gurney), Hilary still lets his desire for his new secretary get the better of him, and he kisses her in the slightly tipsy heat of the afternoon moment in the office. He later goes to her flat at night for a bit of late-night dictation.

Then he is set up by his secretary (sort of reluctantly) and blackmailed by her boyfriend ‘brother’ (Mark Eden), who finds out the story from her, and gets £100 from Hilary, but continues to return for more money. Eventually Hilary decides to call in the authorities on the advice of his solicitor but this leads to severe consequences. As the title implies, there are no winners in this rather tragic story.

Michael Gough is entirely well cast as the ambitious, none too likeable Member of Parliament, not playing it for easy sympathy, as although the character is the victim, he’s not really sympathetic, behaving in a silly way that makes it seem like he had it coming. Gough is rather good, smarmy and cocky, just heading for a fall, playing it with affectation appropriate to his character, but seriously and effectively. Toby Robins is tarty and Sixties sexy. Mark Eden is a low-key weasel of a petty villain. They are both ideal. And the acting is generally fine from some solid character actors of the day, notably Allan Cuthbertson as Garsden, Lockwood West as Justice Tree, Mark Dignam as Attorney General, and Colin Douglas as Superintendent Manton.

The script is interesting. It is not really a thriller at all, certainly not a mystery, starting as a personal drama and character study, and ending up as a courtroom drama, and moral tale. Adapted from a novel of the same name by Edgar Lustgarten, the story has its clear serious intentions, it’s not just a pulpy melodrama. There are a few flashes of directorial style that help. Most of it is indoors in the studio, in five or six sets, but it doesn’t feel too cramped or too cheap, with a useful tiny bit of outside filming.

All done in 53 minutes, 48 seconds, Wow! The only problem there is that the last scenes are abruptly shortened in the race to the finish, so the pacing of the story is not good, taking its time at the start (good) and rushing at the end (bad), It feels like pages of the script were just torn out so the film could squeeze into the runtime.

Cast: Michael Gough as Robert Hilary, Mark Eden as Oliver Marchant, Toby Robins as Frances Challinor, Rachel Gurney as Adele, Allan Cuthbertson as Garsden, Al Mulock as Nick, Roger Hammond as Peter Fletcher, Lockwood West as Justice Tree, Mark Dignam as Attorney General, Catherine Willmer as Miss Stewart, Anne Pichon as Miss Fawcett, Kenneth Benda as Bryce, Leslie Sarony as Harley, David Lander as Burton, David Browning as Casey, Frank Forsyth as Jimmy, Toni Palmer as Jackie, Donald Tandy as Conyers, Colin Douglas as Superintendent Manton, and Peter Bennett as Watkins.

The opening credits state: ‘The Producers acknowledge the assistance given to them by the owners of Upper Court, Portsmouth Road, Esher, Surrey, where the exterior country house sequences were filmed.’ This is the house owned by Robert Hilary in the film. The studio scenes were made at Merton Park Studios, London, England.

The Edgar Wallace Mysteries 1965 S07E02

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,164

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