''The Secret Partner'' is a 1961 British
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by
Basil Dearden and starring
Stewart Granger,
Haya Harareet and
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from t ...
. The screenplay concerns a shipping executive officer who is blackmailed by an evil dentist.
Plot
John Brent (
Stewart Granger) is an executive, working under Charles Standish (
Hugh Burden
Hugh Archibald Nairn Burden''The Daily Telegraph'', 25 July 1962 (3 April 1913 – 16 May 1985) was a British actor and playwright.
Hugh Archibald Nairn Burden was the eldest son of Harry Archibald Burden, a colonial official, and Caro Cecil n ...
) at the London head office of a shipping company. His marriage is in trouble because he is always short of money; his wife Nicole (
Haya Harareet), certain he is spending it on another woman, leaves him and takes up with Clive Lang (
John Lee John Lee may refer to:
Academia
* John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society
* John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal
* John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English ...
), a decorator they have hired.
What Brent's employer does not know is that his real name is John Wilson and he was once imprisoned for embezzlement. When he chose a dentist after being released, it happened to be the same man who did dental work at the prison, Ralph Beldon (
Norman Bird
John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor.
Early life
Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End theatre, West End debut in Peter Brook's produ ...
). Brent is not cheating on Nicole, but Beldon is blackmailing him by threatening to reveal his true identity to the company.
One day a stranger, his face masked and his voice disguised by an insert in his mouth, arrives at Beldon's home. He knows about the blackmail and demands Beldon take further advantage of Brent. Beldon will be mailed a package of
sodium pentothal
Sodium thiopental, also known as Sodium Pentothal (a trademark of Abbott Laboratories), thiopental, thiopentone, or Trapanal (also a trademark), is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anesthetic. It is the thiobarbiturate analog of ...
. At Brent's next dental appointment, he is to inject Brent with this truth serum and demand the combination to Standish's safe at the office. While Brent is incapacitated, he must also make impressions of Brent's keys, both home and office. Beldon is promised £15,000 to be paid later.
The plan is carried out, and the safe is robbed on a day when it happens to contain more money than usual – £100,000 – because of the scheduling of the ships.
Detective Superintendent Hanbury (
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from t ...
) and Inspector Henderson (
Lee Montague
Lee Montague (born Leonard Goldberg; 16 October 1927) is an English actor noted for his roles in film and television, usually playing tough guys.
Montague was a student of the Old Vic School.
Montague's film credits include ''The Camp on Bloo ...
) investigate the case. There is no sign of a break-in; Brent and Standish have the only keys and are the only ones entrusted with the combination. Brent has just left the country on vacation and his keys are at the office. Traces of clay on them indicate that impressions were made.
Henderson jumps to the conclusion that Brent is guilty and provided the impressions to the actual thief; Hanbury, who is about to retire and wants to leave things neat and tidy, is less certain and insists on a proper investigation. They question Standish, Nicole, Lang, and others, and have Brent brought back to England for questioning. Standish had a motive to hurt Brent: he had learned that Brent was likely to be promoted to replace him.
But at Brent's apartment, the detectives find evidence of keys being copied. Brent manages to distract them and flee. He then tries to investigate on his own, and also to mislead the police, until he finally realizes that he might have been drugged by Beldon.
He calls Hanbury to Beldon's place and goes there with a gun, threatening Beldon at gunpoint until the man confesses to all his crimes. Brent then hands the unloaded gun to Hanbury.
The viewer learns the truth when Brent returns home and demonstrates to Nicole the disguise he used on Beldon. Brent is the criminal and always intended to frame himself and then blame Beldon. In this way he would get rid of the blackmailer and he and Nicole would have £85,000 to share.
However, she is not interested. She feels he took advantage of her by faking the breakup of their marriage and saddling her with Lang's attentions, and now she has fallen in love with another man and wants to leave him for real.
Heartbroken, Brent returns the money anonymously. Hanbury calls him in: he has guessed Brent's tricks, including the "pentothal" that was actually some harmless liquid, but to Henderson's surprise, he does not now feel it would be worthwhile prosecuting Brent.
Henderson wishes Hanbury a happy retirement, and Brent walks away, now alone in the world.
Cast
*
Stewart Granger as John Brent, aka John Wilson
*
Haya Harareet as Nicole 'Nikki' Brent
*
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from t ...
as Detective Superintendent Frank Hanbury
*
Hugh Burden
Hugh Archibald Nairn Burden''The Daily Telegraph'', 25 July 1962 (3 April 1913 – 16 May 1985) was a British actor and playwright.
Hugh Archibald Nairn Burden was the eldest son of Harry Archibald Burden, a colonial official, and Caro Cecil n ...
as Charles Standish
*
Lee Montague
Lee Montague (born Leonard Goldberg; 16 October 1927) is an English actor noted for his roles in film and television, usually playing tough guys.
Montague was a student of the Old Vic School.
Montague's film credits include ''The Camp on Bloo ...
as Detective Inspector Tom Henderson
*
Melissa Stribling
Melissa Stribling (7 November 1926 – 22 March 1992) was a Scottish film and television actress, who began her acting career as part of a professional group who presented a different stage play each week at the Croydon 'Grand' theatre. She is ...
as Helen Standish
*
Conrad Phillips
Conrad Philip Havord (13 April 1925 – 13 January 2016), known professionally as Conrad Phillips, was an English television and film actor. He is best known for playing William Tell in the adventure series ''The Adventures of William Tell'' (1 ...
as Dr. Alan Richford
*
John Lee John Lee may refer to:
Academia
* John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society
* John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal
* John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English ...
as Clive Lang
*
Norman Bird
John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor.
Early life
Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End theatre, West End debut in Peter Brook's produ ...
as Ralph Beldon
*
Peter Illing
Peter Illing (4 March 1899 – 29 October 1966) was an Austrian-born British film and television actor.
Selected TV series
* '' Deadline Midnight'' (1961) as Captain Dnieprovsky
* '' The Saint'' (1962) as Inspector Buono
Filmography
* '' The S ...
as Strakarios
*
Basil Dignam
Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor.
Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...
as Lyle
*
William Fox as Brinton
*
Sidney Vivian
Sidney Vivian (18 April 1901 – 22 December 1984) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Selected filmography Film appearances
* ''Dick Barton Strikes Back'' (1949) - Inspector Burke
* '' Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Hei ...
as Dock Forman
*
Willoughby Goddard
Willoughby Wittenham Rees Goddard (4 July 1926 – 11 April 2008) was an English actor whose trademark rotund figure was well known on television and in films for more than 40 years.
Biography
Goddard was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire. He pl ...
as Hotel Keeper
*
Peter Welch
Peter Francis Welch (born May 2, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who is a United States senator-elect from Vermont, and the current U.S. representative for since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been a major figure i ...
as P.C. McLaren
*
Dorothy Gordon as Miss Kerrigan, Dentist's Receptionist
Production
Filming started on 1 September 1960. It was shot at the
MGM-British Studios
MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established (as MGM London Films Denham) at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquired ...
at
Elstree
Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...
and on location at a variety of settings across London, including
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...
, the
Royal Docks
Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England.
The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are mo ...
,
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 ...
and
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
. The sets were designed by art director
Elliot Scott
Elliot Scott (19 July 1915 – 29 October 1993) was an English art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Academy Award for Best Production Design, Best Art Direction.
Selected filmography
Scott was nominated f ...
.
The film was Haya Harareet's next film after ''Ben Hur''.
Critical reception
In
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
, Eleanor Mannikka called the film a "routine mystery story"; while in the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'', Allen Eyles noted "an implausible but ingenious British thriller...flashily directed by Basil Dearden...It remains watchable thanks to some skilful characterisation and the strong performances of Stewart Granger as the executive, Norman Bird as the dentist, and Bernard Lee as the dogged, chain-smoking policeman looking forward to retirement."
References
External links
*
The Secret Partnerat Letterbox DVD
*
*
at Cinema Retro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Partner
1961 films
1960s thriller drama films
Films directed by Basil Dearden
British thriller drama films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films set in London
Films shot in London
1961 drama films
Films shot at MGM-British Studios
1960s English-language films
1960s British films