The Price of Silence ** (1960, Gordon Jackson, June Thorburn) – Classic Movie Review 13,077

‘TRAPPED in a Web of Mystery…Compelled by his past to pay…’ The 1960 low-budget British suspense thriller film The Price of Silence is based on the novel One Step from Murder by Laurence Meynell, and stars Gordon Jackson and June Thorburn.

‘TRAPPED in a Web of Mystery…Compelled by his past to pay…’

Director Montgomery Tully’s routine, just average 1960 low-budget British suspense thriller film The Price of Silence is based on the novel One Step from Murder by Laurence Meynell, and stars Gordon Jackson and June Thorburn.

Ex-convict embezzler Richard Fuller (Gordon Jackson) comes out of jail, changes his name to Roger Fenton and gets a job in an estate agency. He falls for artist Audrey (June Thorburn) but excites his elderly boss Mr Shipley (Llewellyn Rees)’s wife Maria (Maya Koumani). And then his former cellmate Slug (Sam Kydd) arrives on the scene to blackmail him, And to top it all there is a murder of an elderly visitor in his office – and of course Jackson is the cops’ number one suspect.

The decent, pleasing stalwart actors try hard to make a success of this rather poorly done, unpersuasive B-movie thriller, with a busy but cheesy and far-fetched script by the film’s producer Maurice J Wilson. Nevertheless, Montgomery Tully directs for pace and interest, with sharp editing, and it runs only 73 minutes so it never gets boring. It is worthwhile for Gordon Jackson and Sam Kydd, and of course worth a look for fans of vintage B films.

The cast are Gordon Jackson as Richard Fuller/ Roger Fenton, June Thorburn as Audrey Truscott, Maya Koumani as Maria Shipley, Terence Alexander as John Braine, Mary Clare as Mrs West, Victor Brooks as Superintendent Wilson, Joan Heal as Ethel, Olive Sloane as landlady, Llewellyn Rees as Mr H G Shipley, Annette Kerr as office secretary Miss Collins, Norman Shelley as Councillor Forbes, Sam Kydd as Slug, Norman Mitchell as landlord

It is shot in Walton Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England.

The Price of Silence is directed by Montgomery Tully, runs 73 minutes, is made by Eternal Films, is released by Grand National Pictures (UK) and Exclusive International (US), is written by Maurice J Wilson, is shot in black and white by Geoffrey Faithfull, is produced by Maurice J Wilson, and scored by Don Banks.

It was released in the UK in July 1960 on the ABC circuit as the support film to The Gazebo (1959).

English author Laurence Meynell (9 August 1899 – 14 April 1989) wrote more than 150 books.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,077

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com6