The Teckman Mystery *** (1954, Margaret Leighton, John Justin, Roland Culver, Michael Medwin, Duncan Lamont) – Classic Movie Review 10,046

Margaret Leighton, John Justin, Roland Culver, Michael Medwin and Duncan Lamont star in the 1954 British black and white film noir Cold War mystery thriller The Teckman Mystery, based on the TV serial by Francis Durbridge.

‘Tingling thrills in a swiftly moving mystery drama!’

Margaret Leighton, John Justin, Roland Culver, Michael Medwin and Duncan Lamont star in the 1954 British black and white film noir Cold War mystery thriller The Teckman Mystery, another intriguing case for crime writer Philip Chance, created by novelist Francis Durbridge, also the creator of Paul Temple.

Philip Chance is a novelist but he is commissioned by his publisher to write the biography of Martin Teckman, a young airman who supposedly crashed and died while testing a new plane. Chance finds out that the first writer has had a mysterious accident. But then Chance suffers a series of ‘accidents’, suggesting there are people who do not want Teckman’s past investigated.

The fragrance of British 1950s TV serial viewing comes back strong to those old enough to remember in this labyrinthine thriller from its then master Francis Durbridge. Everyone talks in posh English accents, even the police, people smoke on planes, women dress in fancy stuff even in the daytime (main star Margaret Leighton is dressed to kill at all times), men are smartly besuited, London flat dwellers have servants, there is still bomb damage to be seen even in posh areas of London, there is peril and plotting from eastern Europe.

Director Wendy Toye’s 1954 The Teckman Mystery is a little bit talky in places but motored into top gear by a fast moving, keep-you-guessing plot about the crime novelist Philip Chance (John Justin) who finds himself in mortal peril from spies while researching a memorial book he is paid to research on the titular Martin Teckman (Michael Medwin), an aviator with plane secrets, who turns out not to be dead after all, otherwise Michael Medwin would not have had a role.

Acting and direction are briskly handled in a film with lots of artificial climaxes left over from the TV serial that still entertains nicely. Margaret Leighton is very good as Medwin’s enigmatic and possibly duplicitous sister Helen, Roland Culver and Duncan Lamont are ideal as investigating Major Harris and Inspector Hilton of the London police, and Raymond Huntley is indispensable in support as the publisher Maurice Miller. Meier Tzelniker is also effective as a possibly dodgy eastern European, John Rice, who offers Philip Chance the chance to get off the Teckman case and onto something apparently more profitable, writing magazine articles abroad. George Coulouris is good in his one brief scene as Teckman’s former colleague Andrew Garvin.

Francis Durbridge and James Matthews’s complex, twisty screenplay is based on Durbridge’s BBC serial. Although very convoluted and involved (intentionally), it is laid out nice and clearly so it is easy enough to follow. There is not much sexual chemistry between Margaret Leighton and John Justin, but they are such strong personalities it doesn’t matter too much. It’s even a slight shock to find them kissing, and him calling her ‘dear’. Justin has the main role but Leighton has top billing.

The film starts with Philip Chance meeting Helen Teckman apparently by chance, sitting next to him aboard a plane, reading his latest novel. Is it a chance encounter, or something more sinister? So John Justin is joined on a plane by Margaret Leighton (as Helen Teckman) at the start of the film and joined on a plane by his real-life wife Barbara Murray at the end of the film.

It is shot at Shepperton Studios, with a slightly dead-looking studio look, unfortunately. Those painted backdrops outside the widows! Well, really! But happily some location shooting took place around London, including in Kensington, Belgravia, Northolt Aerodrome (standing in for London Airport), the Embankment (with Battersea Power Station in the distance), and Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, scene of the busy extended climax.

The Teckman Mystery is released on a 25 January 2016 Region 2 DVD from Network in a new transfer from the original film elements, with its theatrical aspect ratio.

It is beautifully restored in 2022 by Studio Canal, who went back to the original camera negative and scanned and restored it in 4K to produce a new HD master.

Other members of the cast are Meier Tzelniker, George Coulouris, Jane Wenham, Harry Locke, Barbara Murray, Frances Rowe, Warwick Ashton, Irene Lister, Gwen Nelson, Mary Grant and Ben Williams.

It is the feature film debut of Wendy Toye, a child prodigy dancer who first performed at the Royal Albert Hall aged four, followed by a long and successful dance career, then writing and directing for the theatre. She first directed a short film, The Stranger Left No Card (1952), which won the Best Fiction Short Film Prize at Cannes Film Festival.

The Teckman Mystery is directed by Wendy Toye, runs 90 minutes, is made by Corona Productions and London Films, is released by British Lion Film Corporation (1954) (UK) and Associated Artists Productions (1955) (US), is written by Francis Durbridge and James Matthews, is shot in black and white by Jack Hilyard, is produced by Josef Somlo, is scored by Clifton Parker, and designed by William Kellner (art director).

Release date: 27 October 1954.

The cast are Margaret Leighton as Helen Teckman, John Justin as Philip Chance, Roland Culver as Major Harris, Michael Medwin as Martin Teckman, George Coulouris as Andrew Garvin, Duncan Lamont as Inspector Hilton, Raymond Huntley as Maurice Miller, Jane Wenham as Ruth Wade, Meier Tzelniker as John Rice, Harry Locke as Leonard, Frances Rowe as Eileen Miller, Barbara Murray as woman on plane, Irene Lister as Waitress, Gwen Nelson as daily woman, Mary Grant as B.E.A. Clerk, Andreas Malandrinos as Waiter, Dan Cressey as Drake, Peter Taylor as Leroy, Warwick Ashton as Sgt Blair, Ben Williams as 1st Beefeater, Frank Webster as 2nd Beefeater, Peter Augustine as man with pipe, Maurice Lane as GPO messenger, Mollie Palmer as air hostess, Bruce Beeby as Wallace, and Gordon Morrison as Boris.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,046

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