''A Question of Suspense'' is a low budget 1961 British black and white

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

"B" film directed by

Max Varnel Max Varnel (21 March 1925 – 15 January 1996) was a French-born Australian film and television director who worked primarily in the United Kingdom and Australia. Biography Born Max Le Bozec in Paris, France, he was the son of the film director Ma ...

, based on a story by Roy Vickers, starring Peter Reynolds,

Noelle Middleton Evelyn Noelle Woodeson (née Middleton; 18 December 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an Irish actress and one of the first BBC television announcers. She was also a leading lady of the 1950s British films. Middleton received a BAFTA Film Award nom ...

and

Yvonne Buckingham Yvonne Buckingham is an English actress who appeared in a number of minor or background roles on episodes of British television series or in British films. She played the title role, though only briefly appearing as the deceased victim, in the ...

Plot

Tellman Drew is a businessman who has deposited £30,000 worth of forged bonds with his bank. When his chief clerk and childhood friend Frank Brigstock discovers the fraud, Drew offers him a partnership in his business, but lures him to a lonely spot by the coast and murders him and buries his body. Drew persuades the police that it was Frank who had been behind the scam and has absconded. Rose Marples, who has been living with Frank as his wife, and has known both men since her youth, is not convinced. She begins her own investigation, ultimately discovering the burial site and bringing about Drew's demise.

Cast

* Peter Reynolds as Tellman Drew *

as Rose Marples *

as Jean Forbes *

Norman Rodway Norman John Frank Rodway (7 February 1929 – 13 March 2001) was an Anglo-Irish actor. Early life Rodway was born at the family home, Elsinore (named after the castle where Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' is set), on Coliemore Road, Dalkey, Dublin, ...

as Frank Brigstock * James Neylin as Inspector Hunter * Pauline Delany as Mrs. Barlow * Anne Mulvey as Sally * Peter Dix as Det. Sgt. White * Fergus Cogley as bank manager * Dennis Franks as estate agent * John Hoey as hall porter

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' said "Thinly scripted murder-and-revenge melodrama, unexceptionally directed and working up to a tidy climax which was never in doubt for a moment." ''The Daily Cinema'' noted on 26 June 1961 that the film "concentrates its drama on the characters and what makes them tick."

Production

The 1968 ''Report of the Film Industry Committee'' shows that the Irish Film Finance Corporation had invested in the production of the film. It was made at

Ardmore Studios Ardmore Studios, in Bray, County Wicklow, is Irelands's only four wall studio. It opened in 1958 under the management of Emmet Dalton and Louis Elliman. Since then, it has evolved through many managements and owners. It has been the base for ...

, Bray in Ireland. Although set in England, external scenes were filmed around

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and

Greystones Greystones () is a coastal town and seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies on Ireland's east coast, south of Bray, County Wicklow, Bray and south of Dublin city centre and has a population of 18,140 (2016). The town is bordered ...

, including Frank Brigstock going to work on a

CIÉ Córas Iompair Éireann (''Irish Transport Company''), or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the republic and jointly with its Northern Ireland counte ...

(Córas Iompair Éireann – Irish Transport Company) bus.

References

External links

*
''A Question of Suspense''
a
ReelStreets
1961 films British mystery films British crime drama films Films directed by Max Varnel 1960s English-language films 1960s British films Films scored by Wilfred Burns {{1960s-UK-film-stub