''Jigsaw'' is a 1962 British black and white crime film written and directed by

Val Guest Val Guest (born Valmond Maurice Grossman; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer, for whom he direct ...

and starring Jack Warner and Ronald Lewis. It is based on the police procedural novel ''Sleep Long, My Love'' by

Hillary Waugh Hillary Baldwin Waugh (June 22, 1920 – December 8, 2008) was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Pseudonyms used by Waugh included Elissa Grandower, Harry Walker and H. ...

, with the setting changed from the fictional small town of Stockford,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

,The fictional Stockford is also located in a fictional part of Connecticut, 12 miles north of Stamford, a location actually in New York state. to Brighton, Sussex, while retaining the names and basic natures of its two police protagonists and most of the other characters. It was filmed with the full cooperation of the Brighton Borough Police, which was under the shadow of a major corruption scandal, and the

East Sussex Constabulary East Sussex Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for policing East Sussex in southern England from 1840 to 1968. Its headquarters were located at Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex. History East Sussex Constabulary were formed ...

.The Brighton Borough Police and the East Sussex Constabulary were both merged into the new Sussex Constabulary under the

Police Act 1964 The Police Act 1964 (1964 c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that updated the legislation governing police forces in England and Wales, constituted new police authorities, gave the Home Secretary new powers to supervise lo ...

Plot

A woman (later explained as Jean Sherman) argues with an unseen man. She wants to marry him but he moves to attack her. Her remains are found both dismembered and incinerated, together with a knife and a hacksaw in a small furnace in

Saltdean Saltdean is a coastal village in the city of Brighton and Hove, with part (known as East Saltdean) outside the city boundary in Lewes district. Saltdean is approximately east of central Brighton, west of Newhaven, and south of Lewes. It is ...

, near Brighton. Two local detectives, following up a small but odd burglary of leases at an

estate agent An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged ...

's office, discover the body and take on the investigation of the death. The dead woman cannot be identified but they initially think she is called Jean Sherman, since a suitcase with the initials JS had been left at the scene. The main suspect is an unidentified man who has used the false identity of John Campbell to rent the house in which the woman was found. The detectives methodically develop and follow up leads to identify both people, mostly in Brighton, but also further afield in Lewes and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. DI Fellows goes to Jean Sherman's house and discovers that she is still alive. He tricks her into giving him a name and address to get a sample of her handwriting, which is the same as that found in the victim's house. Flashback scenes in her story specifically exclude the viewer from seeing the man John Campbell. Miss Sherman admits a one-night stand with Campbell. They track down and arrest a suspect described by several persons as the man who occupied the house, but the case takes an unexpected turn when he admits that he was a door to door salesman who was with the victim but denies any involvement in her murder. His story checks out. After the dead woman is positively identified, the veteran inspector leading the case has to tell the parents then develops a "wild idea" about the identity of another suspect, then orders a standard procedure that confirms his theory in a non-standard fashion. This suspect (Tenby) admits knowledge of the death but his contention that it was accidental appears to be unshakeable until the detectives realise that he has lied about a crucial detail: claiming to have bought something on a Monday bank holiday.

Cast

* Jack Warner as Detective Inspector Fred Fellows * Ronald Lewis as Detective Sergeant Jim Wilks * Yolande Donlan as Jean Sherman *

Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was ...

as Clyde Burchard *

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation c ...

as Mr Simpson *

Moira Redmond Moira Redmond (14 July 1928 – 16 March 2006) was an English actress. Biography She was born in Bognor Regis, Sussex, England. Her parents were actors and director managers, although she was also cared for by other relatives. Her grandfath ...

as Joan Simpson * Christine Bocca as Mrs Simpson * Brian Oulton as Frank Restlin *

Ray Barrett Raymond Charles Barrett (2 May 19278 September 2009) was an Australian actor. During the 1960s, he was a leading actor on British television, where he was best known for his appearances in ''The Troubleshooters'' (1965–1971). From the 1970s, ...

as Sergeant Gorman *

Norman Chappell Norman Chappell (31 December 1925, Lucknow, India – 21 July 1983) was an English character actor, known for numerous roles in television and film. Biography Born in India, during the British Raj Chappell appeared mainly in television series as ...

as Andy Roach * John Barron as Ray Tenby * Joan Newell as Mrs Banks

Critical response

''Britmovie'' wrote that ''Jigsaw'' is "a chilling murder mystery," adding that, "at 107 minutes, the film is long but never tiresome"; while ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the film as "one of the finest postwar British crime movies and possibly the best depiction of the seaside town on film. Caught in its seedy corruption, Brighton emerges as a far cry from the bumbling world with which (Val) Guest had until then been associated." The Duke of Edinburgh once asked the director what he was currently doing, and Guest replied that he was working on "Jigsaw". The Duke thought working on a murder mystery with the Brighton police would be "bloody boring".

Notes

;Footnotes ;References The film was shot in CinemaScope, but this is uncredited.

External links

* {{Val Guest 1962 films 1962 crime drama films 1960s mystery films British crime drama films British mystery films 1960s English-language films Films about murder 1960s police procedural films Films directed by Val Guest Films set in Brighton Films shot at Associated British Studios Films shot in East Sussex 1960s British films