''Backfire!'' (also known as ''Backfire'') is a 1962

second feature A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

film directed by

Paul Almond Paul Almond (April 26, 1931 – April 9, 2015) was a Canadian television and motion picture screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is most known for being the director of the first film in the '' Up'' series. Life and career Paul A ...

and starring

Alfred Burke Alfred Burke (28 February 1918 – 16 February 2011) was an English actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Frank Marker in the drama series '' Public Eye'', which ran on television for ten years. Early life Born in London's south-east ...

Zena Marshall Zena Moyra Marshall (1 January 1926 – 10 July 2009) was a British actress of film and television, who was born in Kenya. Early years Marshall was of English, Irish and (on her mother's side) French descent. Though born in Kenya, after her ...

and Oliver Johnston. Part of the long-running series of ''

Edgar Wallace Mysteries The ''Edgar Wallace Mysteries'' is a British second-feature film series mainly produced at Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated. There were 48 films in the series, which were released between 1960 and 1965. The series was screened as ''The ...

'' films made at

Merton Park Studios Merton Park Studios, opened in 1929, was a British film production studio located at Long Lodge, 269 Kingston Road in Merton Park, South London. In the 1940s, it was owned by Piprodia Entertainment, Nikhanj Films and Film Producers Guild. Peter Mo ...

, it was based on a story by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

Plot

Long-established cosmetics company Venetia Beauty Preparations is in serious financial trouble, having been taken from success to near-ruin by the unscrupulous actions of the devious Mitchell Logan and his wife Pauline, who have inveigled their way to become business partners of the elderly founder Bernard Curzon. Against Curzon's wishes, Logan engages the services of a professional arsonist to burn the factory down, intending to claim on the insurance. But his plan goes horribly wrong.

Cast

as Mitchell Logan *

as Pauline Logan * Oliver Johnston as Bernard Curzon *Noel Trevarthen as Jack Bryce *

Suzanne Neve Suzanne may refer to: People * Suzanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) * S. U. Zanne, pen name of August Vandekerkhove (1838–1923), Belgian writer and inventor * Suzanne, pen name of Renée Ménde ...

as Shirley Curzon *

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 Arthur Tilsley *

John Cazabon John Forde Cazabon (3 August 1914 – 22 June 1983) was an English actor and stage writer whose career began in Sydney, Australia. History Cazabon was born in Hertford, Hertfordshire, to violinist and composer Albert Cazabon (1883–1970) and N ...

as Willy Kyser *

Madeleine Christie Madeleine Elsie Jane Christie (18 January 1904 – 2 February 1996) was a Scottish actress. Madeleine Christie studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Christie was the mother of actress Amanda Walker, and mother-in-law of Pa ...

as Hannah Chenko * Claire Neilson, as Valentina Chenko (credited as Claire Isbister) *Frank Hawkins as Inspector Fletcher *

Donald Eccles Donald Eccles (26 April 1908 – 2 February 1986) was a British character actor. Donald Yarrow Eccles was born in Nafferton, Yorkshire on 26 April 1908 the son of Charles Henry and Constance Eccles; his father was a doctor. Eccles was educated ...

as Hargreaves *Melody O'Brian as Thelma *

Edwin Brown Edwin Stanley "Nigger" Brown (1898–1972) was an Australian rugby league player who played in the 1910s and 1920s. A Queensland state and Australian international representative centre, he played club rugby in Toowoomba for Newtown. Brown, ...

as commisionaire *Beresford Williams as nightwatchman *

Bernard Kay Bernard Frederic Bemrose Kay (23 February 1928 – 25 December 2014) was an English actor with an extensive theatre, television, and film repertoire. Career Kay began his working life as a reporter for the ''Bolton Evening News'', and a str ...

as fire chief *

Philip Ray Philip Ray (born Roy Edgar Cochrane, 1 November 1898 – 11 May 1978) was a British stage, film and television actor. Occasionally credited as Phil Ray, he played numerous and varied supporting roles, particularly in films and on television. ...

as coroner *Audrey Nicholson as maid in hotel *Terry Bale as van man *Stuart Hutchinson as fireman

Critical reception

The 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 ...

'' wrote: "Economical thriller in the Edgar Wallace series, adequately acted and presented."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0042219, Backfire!
''Backfire!''
then-and-now location photographs a
ReelStreets
1962 films British black-and-white films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films Merton Park Studios films Edgar Wallace Mysteries Films directed by Paul Almond