Urge to Kill ** (1960, Patrick Barr, Howard Pays, Terence Knapp, Ruth Dunning) – Classic Movie Review 13,177

The 1960 British crime drama film Urge to Kill is the first of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries, with Patrick Barr, Howard Pays, Terence Knapp, Ruth Dunning and Wilfrid Brambell. In a grim English town, the local pub-owner’s daughter is found murdered.

Director Vernon Sewell’s 1960 British crime drama film Urge to Kill is the first in the series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries before it got into its stride. It features Patrick Barr, Howard Pays, Terence Knapp, Ruth Dunning, and Wilfrid Brambell. In a drab English town, the local pub-owner’s daughter is found to have been murdered by a gloved psychopathic woman-hating killer, and the baffled police are still mystified when another young woman is killed for rather obscure plot reasons right under their noses.

Suspicion falls on Hughie, the strangely behaved and simple youth who wanders around at night, collecting broken glass, the very weapon used in the murder. Hughie lives in his aunt’s boarding house, along with a few boarders, including the kindly elderly Bible-bashing gentleman Mr Forsythe (Wilfrid Brambell) and a smooth-talking ladies’ man Charles Ramskill (Howard Pays).

But this Edgar Wallace Mystery is not a mystery at all, we’re told who the killer is early on, it’s just a ‘when and how are they going to catch him?’ story. And it is not an Edgar Wallace story either. It’s a fusty, musty, old-style thriller, very creaky, very stagey and theatrical. It could easily be based on a stage play, though the screenplay by James Eastwood is based on Gerald Savory’s 1942 novel Hughie Roddis and 1944 play Hand in Glove. And talk about theatrical. Those were the days when the police all talk with posh accents!

There is not much suspense, tension or atmosphere, well not enough anyway, maybe a little. It’s very TV drama stuff, very much studio bound, playing out on cramped sets, mostly in one living room. The writing is modest, with creaky situations and obvious dialogue, everything way too carefully signalled and repetitive (even in a runtime of 59 minutes). Some of the details are very unconvincing, just when you need to believe every word. It’s like a Brit film of a much earlier era, the Thirties or even the Twenties.

It’s easy to watch though, in the interesting category. The performances are competent. Patrick Barr is OK as the police Superintendent Allen, and Ruth Dunning is OK as the boarding house landlady Auntie B, and it’s interesting to see Wilfrid Brambell in a serious role in a thriller. What do we think of the simple-minded Hughie character? It seems awkward now, but we are on his side, like Auntie B is, and the script certainly means well. Awkward though it is, Terence Knapp plays him skilfully enough, and sympathetically too. Howard Pays overplays his hand, lacking in subtlety as the story’s real oddball.

Patrick Barr and Howard Pays also appear in the 1961 Edgar Wallace Mysteries episode The Sinister Man.

Christopher Trace (21 March 1933 – 5 September 1992), who plays Sgt Grey, is notable for his nine years as an original presenter of the BBC children’s programme Blue Peter (1958 – 1967). He came up with two famous catchphrases: ‘And now for something completely different’ and ‘Here’s one I made earlier’.

Cast: Patrick Barr as Superintendent Allen, Ruth Dunning as Auntie B, Terence Knapp as Hughie, Howard Pays as Charles Ramskill, Anna Turner as Lily Willis, Christopher Trace as Sgt Grey, Wilfrid Brambell as Mr Forsythe, Margaret St Barbe West as Mrs Willis, Yvonne Buckingham as Gwen, Rita Webb as charwoman, Laura Thurlow as Jenny, Ken Midwood as Sergeant Brigs, Brian O’Higgins as Curly Latham, Margaret McGrath as Alice, David Lander as Harris, and David Browning as uniformed inspector.

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.

• Urge to Kill (March 1960)
• Clue of the Twisted Candle (September 1960)
• The Malpas Mystery (October 1960)
• Marriage of Convenience (November 1960)
• The Man Who Was Nobody (December 1960)
• Partners in Crime (February 1961)
• The Clue of the New Pin (February 1961)
• The Fourth Square (June 1961)
• Man at the Carlton Tower (July 1961)
• Clue of the Silver Key (August 1961)
• Attempt to Kill (September 61)
• Man Detained (October 1961)
• Never Back Losers (December 1961)
• The Sinister Man (December 1961)
• Backfire! (February 1962)
• Candidate for Murder (February 1962)
• Flat Two (February 1962)
• The Share Out (February 1962)
• Number Six (April 1962)
• Time to Remember (July 1962)
• Solo for Sparrow (September 1962)
• Playback (September 1962)
• Locker Sixty-Nine (September 1962)
• Death Trap (October 1962)
• The Set Up (January 1963)
• Incident at Midnight (January 1963)
• The £20,000 Kiss (January 1963)
• On the Run (February 1963)
• Return to Sender (March 1963)
• Ricochet (March 1963)
• The Double (April 1963)
• To Have and to Hold (July 1963)
• The Partner (September 1963)
• Accidental Death (November 1963)
• Five to One (December 1963)
• Downfall (January 1964)
• The Verdict (February 1964)
• We Shall See (April 1964)
• The Rivals (May 1964)
• Who Was Maddox? (June 1964)
• Face of a Stranger (September 1964)
• Act of Murder (September 1964)
• Never Mention Murder (November 1964)
• The Main Chance (November 1964)
• Game for Three Losers (April 1965)
• Change Partners (July 1965)
• Strangler’s Web (August 1965)
• Dead Man’s Chest (October 1965).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,177

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