Murder in Eden *** (1961, Ray McAnally, Catherine Feller, Yvonne Buckingham, Norman Rodway) – Classic Movie Review 13,394

The 1961 British crime mystery film Murder in Eden stars Ray McAnally as a Scotland Yard Inspector who hunts for the killer of an art critic who has uncovered a series of forged paintings.

Director Max Varnel’s low budget 1961 British black and white crime mystery B film Murder in Eden stars Ray McAnally, Catherine Feller, Yvonne Buckingham, and Norman Rodway. It is written by H E Burden based on an original story by John Haggarty.

Art critic Max Aaronson denounces a famous old painting in The Woolf Art Gallery as a forgery. He tells owner Arnold Woolf (Mark Singleton) that it is not the only forgery, and intends to make his revelations public, but shortly afterwards he is killed by a mysterious hit-and-run driver in a Bentley with a Spirit of the Wolf metallic figurehead.

Interesting, and great, to see the young(ish) Ray McAnally as Inspector Peter Sharkey. the copper on the case, who would be the star of the film, if it weren’t for the Bubble Car his co-star Catherine Feller, paying the devious young French woman Geneviève Beaujean, drives around in, chicly but incongruously. It seems like it’s from another movie, a Swinging Sixties one, instead of the art forgery. murder thriller we have here.

McAnally is a class act, as the inspector who falls for the French woman, breaking protocol and duty, and so is Norman Rodway as the possibly dodgy and devious art restorer, who seems to fancy Arnold Woolf’s wife. McAnally has a tricky job to do, semi comedic and romantic, but also dogged, determined copper, with actionful running about and fisticuffs to perform. He is quite mesmerising, looking very pleased with himself that he has landed a star role and can show what he can do It’s a good showreel calling card.

Catherine Feller is an irritant as the French woman, overacting wildly, in a melodramatic performance that seems like it’s from another movie, a Swinging Sixties one, while the striking Yvonne Buckingham underplays successfully as Woolf’s wife. Mark Singleton keeps it real as venal as gallery owner Arnold Woolf. These two bring credibility to the bogus art world around them.

The plot, with its shades of the art forgery and art gallery scene in Ripley Under Ground, is useful and serviceable. And that is the main thing. The accordion-led score is quite dreadful, so inappropriate that is seems composed for an entirely different movie, a light comedy, instead of a dark crime thriller. There are some terrible studio painted backdrops, quite of few of them. emphasising the low budget and artificial nature of the enterprise damagingly.

Angela Douglas has a blink and you’ll miss it comedy walk-on as a beatnik, and is quite bad, though it’s nice to spot her.

Okay perhaps the plotting, dialogue, production and direction leave something to be desired, but, for all its faults, it is still entertaining for fans of old British mystery films.

Though set in London, it is filmed in Ireland, using Dublin exteriors and cars with Irish registration plates. Many of the actors are Irish, trying vainly to disguise their accents. It is produced at Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, and on some Irish locations.

There are another couple of star cars: the Bentley with a Spirit of the Wolf metallic figurehead, which is literally (in the film) to die for, and the Scotland Yard police Wolseley (with an Irish number plate).

It is a companion piece to A Question of Suspense (1961), also directed by Max Varnel and co-starring Norman Rodway and Yvonne Buckingham.

The cast

The cast are Ray McAnally as Inspector Peter Sharkey, Catherine Feller as Geneviève Beaujean, Yvonne Buckingham as Vicky Woolf, Mark Singleton as Arnold Woolf, Norman Rodway as Michael Lucas, Jack Aranson as Bill Robson, Robert Lepler as Max Aaronson, Angela Douglas as beatnik, Francis O’Keefe as Sergeant Johnson, Noel Sheridan as Frenchman Jack, Ronald Walsh as bodyguard, John Sterling as art expert, Frank O’Donovan as manservant, and Eithne Lydon as receptionist.

Catherine Feller (born 1939)

Catherine Feller (born 1939) is best known for Hammer Films’ The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and also appeared in Waltz of the Toreadors (1962) with Peter Sellers.

Yvonne Buckingham (born 1937)

Because Yvonne Buckingham had prominent roles in two 1961 films, A Question of Suspense and Murder in Eden, she forfeited £4,000 from an insurance policy she took out in 1958 when she was 20 against failure to become a star within five years.

She played a saloon girl in Robbery Under Arms (1957). In 1958, she played in the comedy Next to No Time. She played the title role, appearing only briefly as the deceased victim, in the 1959 film Sapphire.

She was in three Edgar Wallace Mystery films: Urge To Kill, The Sinister Man and Solo for Sparrow.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,394

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