Man Detained *** (1961, Bernard Archard, Elvi Hale, Paul Stassino, Michael Coles) – Classic Movie Review 13,327

The 1961 British Edgar Wallace Mystery crime B-film Man Detained stars Bernard Archard as Inspector Verity, who investigates after a petty burglar robs a safe of £10,000 in counterfeit cash.

Director Robert Tronson’s 1961 British Edgar Wallace Mystery second feature crime B-film Man Detained features Bernard Archard, Elvi Hale, Paul Stassino, and Michael Coles. It is part of the essential 48-film series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios from 1960 to 1965.

Michael Coles plays petty burglar Frank Murray, who sets off a chain of criminal events when he breaks into the office safe of photographer Thomas Maple (Victor Platt) and steals £10,000 in forged five pound bank notes.

Because the stolen money is counterfeit, the safe owner now can’t declare its theft to Detective Inspector Verity (Bernard Archard) of the London police, instead only reporting the loss of $20 in real notes.

The forged notes belong to crime boss James Helder (Paul Stassino), who wants them back, and the police want him. Helder is having an affair with Maple’s wife Stella (Ann Sears). Later, Helder kidnaps Maple’s secretary Kay Simpson (Elvi Hale) because she knows too much.

Man Detained has more or less everything it needs, coming complete with an engrossing well-constructed mystery plot, dense but not over-complex, topped off with an all-action finish with gunplay and a chase, plenty of pace and smart low budget filming, with, most usefully and atmospherically, considerably more outside filming than usual. There are lots of cars of the era and that’s what Barons Court tube station looked like then. They’ve made London look a desperately drab, really rundown place, still in postwar decay, the ideal setting for forgery, theft, deceit, double-dealing and murder.

Bernard Archard gets well deserved star billing, and makes an excellent sharp and canny no-nonsense police inspector (just look at that beady look in his eyes!), Elvi Hale is a supremely resourceful ultra-capable secretary, Paul Stassino a slimy villain, and Michael Coles a sparky cheeky chappie. The casting and performances are just right. Hale and Coles make you think they deserved higher profile careers.

The Maple Photography office is in a building called Merton House. The film is made by Merton Park Studios.

Release date: October 1961.

Richard Harris (born 26 March 1934)

The screenplay is by British writer Richard Harris (born 26 March 1934), based on the 1916 Edgar Wallace novel A Debt Discharged.

The cast

The cast are Bernard Archard as Detective Inspector Verity, Elvi Hale as Kay Simpson, Paul Stassino as James Helder, Michael Coles as Frank Murray, Ann Sears as Stella Maple, Victor Platt as Thomas Maple, Patrick Jordan as Brand, Clifford Earl as Detective Sergeant Wentworth, Gerald Lawson as old man, Jean Aubrey as Gillian Murray, and Gareth Davies as police constable.

Michael Coles (12 August 1936 – 26 April 2005)

Michael Coles (12 August 1936 – 26 April 2005) appeared in three of the Edgar Wallace films of the early sixties: Man Detained, Solo for Sparrow and Never Mention Murder.

Elvi Hale (born 29 January 1931)

Elvi Hale (born Patricia Elvira Hake on 29 January 1931) was nominated for a BAFTA award for most promising film newcomer for True as a Turtle (1957). She played Heather, Leslie Phillips’s love interest in the film of The Navy Lark (1959). She retired in 1990.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,327

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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.

Crossroads to Crime (1960) and Seven Keys (1961) were not shot as part of the series but were later included. Urge to Kill (1960) may not originally have been intended as part of the series.

1. Urge to Kill (March 1960)
2. Clue of the Twisted Candle (September 1960)
3. The Malpas Mystery (October 1960)
4. Marriage of Convenience (November 1960)
5. The Man Who Was Nobody (December 1960)
6. Partners in Crime (February 1961)
7. The Clue of the New Pin (February 1961)
8. The Fourth Square (June 1961)
9. Man at the Carlton Tower (July 1961)
10. Clue of the Silver Key (August 1961)
11. Attempt to Kill (September 1961)
12. Man Detained (October 1961)
13. Never Back Losers (December 1961)
14. The Sinister Man (December 1961)
15. Backfire! (February 1962)
16. Candidate for Murder (February 1962)
17. Flat Two (February 1962)
18. The Share Out (February 1962)
19. Number Six (April 1962)
20. Time to Remember (July 1962)
21. Solo for Sparrow (September 1962)
22. Playback (September 1962)
23. Locker Sixty-Nine (September 1962)
24. Death Trap (October 1962)
25. The Set Up (January 1963)
26. Incident at Midnight (January 1963)
27. The £20,000 Kiss (January 1963)
28. On the Run (February 1963)
29. Return to Sender (March 1963)
30. Ricochet (March 1963)
31. The Double (April 1963)
32. To Have and to Hold (July 1963)
33. The Partner (September 1963)
34. Accidental Death (November 1963)
35. Five to One (December 1963)
36. Downfall (January 1964)
37. The Verdict (February 1964)
38. We Shall See (April 1964)
39. The Rivals (May 1964)
40. Who Was Maddox? (June 1964)
41. Face of a Stranger (September 1964)
42. Act of Murder (September 1964)
43. Never Mention Murder (November 1964)
44. The Main Chance (November 1964)
45. Game for Three Losers (April 1965)
46. Change Partners (July 1965)
47. Strangler’s Web (August 1965)
48. Dead Man’s Chest (October 1965)