''Smokescreen'' is a 1964 British crime drama film, written and directed by Jim O'Connolly and starring

Peter Vaughan Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage. He is perhaps best know ...

Plot

Mr Roper, an

insurance investigator An insurance investigator examines insurance claims that are suspicious or otherwise in doubt. Investigators in this field have differing specialties and backgrounds. Some insurance companies have their own in-house investigation teams while other ...

, travels to Brighton to assess the apparent death of a businessman after his burning car was seen crashing over a cliff into the sea. The

insurance company Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

is suspicious, as the man had only recently taken out life insurance for a large sum. The car is recovered and no body is found. Roper and the police have to find out whether they are dealing with an accident, an insurance fraud or a murder.

Cast

as Roper * John Carson as Trevor Bayliss *

Yvonne Romain Yvonne Adelaide "Evie" Romain ('' née'' Warren; 17 February 1938) is a British former film and television actress of the late 1950s and 1960s. Early career Romain was born in London of Maltese descent and is a graduate of the Italia Conti Acad ...

as Janet Dexter *

Gerald Flood Gerald Robert Flood (21 April 1927 – 12 April 1989) was a British actor of stage and television. Early life Flood was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, but lived for most of his life in Farnham, Surrey, where he regularly appeared on stage a ...

as Graham Turner *

Glynn Edwards John Glynn Edwards (2 February 1931 – 23 May 2018) was a British television and cinema character actor, who came to national prominence for his portrayal of the barman Dave Harris in the 1970s–1990s British television comedy-drama ''Minder' ...

as Inspector Wright *

John Glyn-Jones John Glyn-Jones (28 August 1908 – 21 January 1997) was a British stage, radio, television and film actor. His father, William Glyn-Jones, was a Member of Parliament and he was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and Oxford University. H ...

as Player *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He als ...

as Hotel waiter *

Deryck Guyler Deryck Bower Guyler (29 April 1914 – 7 October 1999) was an English actor, best remembered for his portrayal of officious, short-tempered middle-aged men in sitcoms such as ''Please Sir!'' and '' Sykes''. Early life Guyler was born in Wallas ...

as Station master (as Derek Guyler) *

Penny Morrell Penny Morrell (4 February 1938 – 3 January 2020) was a British actress. She was married to the actor George Cole until his death in 2015. Death Penny Morrell died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Berkshire, England on 3 January 2020, aged 81 ...

as Helen, Turner's secretary * David Gregory as the Smudger * Jill Curzon as June * Barbara Hicks as Miss Breen * Bert Palmer as Barman * Tom Gill as Reception clerk * Edward Ogden as Police Sergeant * Anthony Dawes as John Dexter * Romo Gorrara as Taxi Driver * Maja Hafernik as Mrs Dexter's Maid *

Derek Francis Derek Francis (7 November 1923 – 27 March 1984) was an English comedy and character actor. Biography Francis was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in '' The Tomb of Lig ...

as Dexter's doctor (uncredited) *

Damaris Hayman Damaris Hayman (16 June 1929 – 3 June 2021) was an English actress, often cast in upper class or eccentric roles. She made numerous performance in films and television series from the 1950s onwards. Biography Hayman was born in Kensington, Lo ...

as Mrs Roper's nurse (uncredited)

Critical reception

According to the '' Radio Times'' reviewer: "this above-average programme filler has a passable plot (involving a little bit of skulduggery in suburban Brighton) that's kept moving swiftly and painlessly by director Jim O'Connolly...Vaughan plays with a dogged determination that is efficient, engaging and quite at odds with the more sinister characterisations he would essay later in his career". '' BFI Screenonline'' described the film as "an utterly charming B-film comedy-thriller that emphasises character as much as plot and makes full use of extensive location footage." The film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane selected ''Smokescreen'' as one of the 15 most meritorious British B films made between the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and 1970. They describe it as an "uncommonly neat little insurance racket-cum-murder thriller" and praise the way that its comic relief is "built into the fabric of the film's main narrative action".

Locations

The opening scenes were shot in London, but much of the rest of the film was shot on location in West Sussex and East Sussex, including the Brighton area. The scene featuring

as the station master was shot at

Hellingly railway station Hellingly was a railway station on the now closed Polegate to Eridge line (the Cuckoo Line) in East Sussex. It served the village of Hellingly. History The station was opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway on 5 April 1880 It ...

, which has since been closed.

References

External links

* * {{Jim O'Connolly 1964 films 1964 crime drama films 1960s mystery films British crime drama films British crime thriller films British black-and-white films British mystery films Films directed by Jim O'Connolly Films set in Brighton 1960s English-language films 1960s British films