The Broken Horseshoe (1953) User Reviews

Doctor in Trouble...

[wilvram · 7/10 · 14 March 2012]

Though the 1970s were the heyday for British TV spin-offs, author Francis Durbridge's serials, notable for each episode's cliffhanger ending, were among the first to transfer to the big screen twenty years earlier.

Here, Mark Fenton, a hospital doctor or possibly consultant as he is addressed as Mister, becomes ensnared with the double-dealing members of a crime ring after falling for the glamorous Della Freeman. Fenton appears to have more time on his hands than most members of his profession and he appeared in a similar adaptation OPERATION DIPLOMAT, played by Guy Rolfe. A likable cast includes Robert Beatty, with his decidedly Canadian accent as Fenton, while Elizabeth Sellars, an excellent and somewhat under used actress plays Della, looking classy and elegant in a sumptuous array of furs and hats. There's also two celebrated specialists in sinister foreigners for British films and TV, Ferdy Mayne and Roger Delgado.

The only film of Director Martyn C. Webster, a BBC radio producer whom had worked with Francis Durbridge on the Paul Temple series starring Peter Coke; he ensures it gets off to a flying start. Durbridge's thrillers and series were always gripping and enjoyable despite his over use of certain plot devices. See for example the similarities in a more polished adaptation of his work, Gerald Thomas's THE VICIOUS CIRCLE (1957), also featuring a doctor in trouble.

Fascinating Tawdriness

[jromanbaker · 7/10 · 9 June 2022]

Anyone who is interested in the atmosphere of Post-War Two tawdriness in London should watch these ' minor ' films of the early 1950's. Robert Beatty who was often seen on the screen then is always watchable, and he is good as a doctor who gets embroiled in criminal activities, and with a woman played by the underrated Elizabeth Sellars who has a mysterious past. The plot centres on supposed aid for Polish refugees called ' The Broken Horseshoe ' and the twists and turns of murders surrounding it. A clever plot but the film is really watchable for the good acting and the ' rich ' and cluttered apartments of the time and the ' poor ' apartments for those who are struggling under rationing and low paid jobs. Robert Beatty epitomises the former while Vida Hope ( a fine character actor of the period and responsible for producing the original production of ' The Boy Friend ' ) shows us the latter. Darkened rooms, even darker streets try to hide the slow recovery in the UK, and it is well shown in this film. Repression in every area and crime perhaps partly because of it is conveyed. A good film for those interested in the past, and films of the time are indispensable for showing social history.

The £500 Alibi

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 17 December 2020]

A talky but good looking Butchers quickie based on a Francis Durbridge serial embellished with a noisy faux Rachmaninov score by Wilfred Burns, handsome photography by Gerald Gibbs, handsome leads in Robert Beatty and Elizabeth Sellars and amusing cameos from the likes of Frank Atkinson and Vida Hope.

Underwhelming and dull murder yarn.

[geoffm60295 · 4/10 · 18 December 2020]

I enjoyed the acting performances of Elizabeth Sellars playing the alluring, sophisticated, femme fatale, Della Freeman as well as Roger Delgardo, who is cast as Felix Galegos, the slippery, dastardly villain, a role which he reprised in countless films. However, the rest of the cast are unremarkable and move around like mannequins to pad out the cast. Robert Beatty plays Roger Fenton, a chain smoking, naive and highly gullible doctor, who's drawn into a spider's web of intrigue involving the doping of horses. Fenton's fascination with the delightful Della Freeman, seriously affects his thinking with the result he puts himself in the frame as a murderer. Robert Beatty handles his role well as the spellbound doctor, but the storyline allows him and Sellars, little room for romance, not even a kiss or an embrace. Beatty was a trustworthy and solid regular of British films in the 40's and 50's who later appeared as a detective in the TV series, 'Dial 999.' 'The Broken Horseshoe' is a worthy, but cheaply made budget film, which doesn't inspire, as there is far too much talk and barely any action. One of those films to watch out of curiosity on a cold, wet afternoon.

Decent Mystery Movie

[boblipton · 6/10 · 28 February 2023]

Surgeon Robert Beatty operates on Ferdy Mayne with a new drug. Maybe has been in a hit-and-run and is anxious to get out of hospital, so he leave earlier than Beatty would like, especially as alluring Elizabeth Sellars had come by when Mayne was unconscious and Beatty wants to see her again. Mayne makes an appointment for a follow-up and gives Beatty a letter to hold until he returns. When he doesn't return, Beatty goes to Mayne's apartment and finds Mayne's corpse. His brother-in-law, Peter Coke, is the cop investigating the murder. Beatty doesn't mention Miss Sellars.

It's a decent mystery, and I preen a bit in that I figured it out. It's also a fair movie with film noir tinges, and a first film role for Roger Delgado. I was annoyed by Wilfred Burns' lush and busy score. Burns was a favored composer for bits of stock music, but listening to the bits constantly was a slightly onerous. That said, it's another decent B movie for Nettleford.

wordy thriller lacks action and pace

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 8 April 2013]

It is little surprise to learn that the story was first performed upon radio and the director was its producer.apart from the very beginning and end there is virtually no action.There is just continuous talk to try and explain the overly complicated plot.After all why would you want to write important information in invisible ink on the back of a railway ticket.Why would you want to go to such lengths to find dope to feed to horses.why do you give information to a visitor when the visitor is not a relative of the patient..why when you are running from the police do you run on to the runway at Heathrow to make your escape.as you can see the plot just gets sillier and sillier.you keep on hoping that something will happen but nothing does.

Only the slightest of suspicion has him a suspect.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 17 November 2023]

The death of a patient involved in a hit and run has the doctor (Robert Beatty) in hot water, with a mysterious woman (Elizabeth Sellars) on his trail as well as a detective (Peter Coke) who might actually have other ideas of who was responsible. It's a weird, frequently messy spy drama that takes a while to get its bearings, but later on when things begin to come together, it gets a lot more intriguing.

A middle of the road British melodrama, not quite an A but far from a quota quickie. Sellars, as the woman of mystery, is beautiful, sort of a Vivien Leigh lookalike, yet not as sensual. Toke Townley is creepy as a gun toting spy, playing the type of part that Peter Lorre could walk through and play while sleeping. Seems a bit like a filmed stage play so it has a few deadly slow mourned only woken up when the twisted plot begins to unravel.

Little to distinguish it

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 24 May 2015]

THE BROKEN HORSESHOE is a low budget British thriller filmed at Nettlefold Studios and distributed by the reliable Butcher's Films. Unfortunately it's one of their lesser outings, a largely uninteresting mystery yarn which sees a hospital doctor become both a murder suspect and an amateur sleuth as he attempts to solve the mysterious death of one of his patients.

Unsurprisingly, this is a sluggish, talky affair, notable only for some of the performances of the supporting players. While the main actors are rather stiff, there's a stand-out turn from a debuting Roger Delgado playing a rather sinister character; you can see why Delgado became a familiar face on our screens in the years to come as his performance is assured and confident. There's even a role for Ferdy Mayne (THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KLLERS) playing the chap whose murder kickstarts the whole plot. But the storyline is distinctly average, the events of the plot feel rather quaint, and as a whole this hasn't dated as well as other material from the era.

"Never hold anything back from the police. Even for the brightest of brown eyes"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 5/10 · 31 August 2022]

A surgeon Dr. Mark Fenton gets involved with one of his patients Charles Constance that leads to an attractive woman Della Freeman and murder. Based on a six-part television serial written by Francis Durbridge it suffers from having the plot compressed. Why does Dr Fenton put himself out for Della and lie to the police when he barely knows her. What part did Jackie Leroy play in it all and why was she murdered. Etc. The acting is good though with Robert Beatty solid as Fenton supported in their usual excellent way by character actors Ferdy Mayne as Constance, Vida Hope as Jackie and in his film debut Roger Delgado as the sinister Felix Galegos. No one could do exotic villainy quite so entertainingly as Mr. Delgado. The film is not awful, it just needed a bit more excitement.

Interesting Francis Durbridge

[ajbakeresq · 8/10 · 31 March 2021]

This is an adaptation of a Francis Durbridge tv serial, which was in six half hour episodes, performed live and not recorded. It's easy to see where the cliff hangers were even though it's very compressed. Durbridge stories are full of twists. It's well worth seeing the later BBC ones that do exist. But I'm mainly writing this to correct the very annoying point in the goofs. Fenton is a surgeon and so is not addressed as doctor. Surgeons are always addressed as mister.

Nasty horse racing business mixed up with a Polish refugee organization

[clanciai · 9/10 · 27 February 2021]

It all looks very well and makes sense, and the lady in question is as beautiful as you could ever wish, but nothing is what it appears like. It's the ordinary skilful Durbridge touch of a clever thriller with a mystery dominating the plot, as two doctors get involved in a fearful business of murder, planted evidence, mysterious messages written on a mirror and deleted, invisible ink and so on, and all you know is that at least Robert Beatty must be innocent, which he always is but nevertheless always gets into trouble. The lady in question is the beautiful Elizabeth Sellars, whom it is also impossible to suspect of anything wicked with her irresistible Jacqueline Kennedy looks, while the gorgeous music of Wilfred Burns makes the whole set-up impeccably seductive, and like doctor Robert Beatty you are ready to believe anything. Fortunately he has a brother-in-law in the police who keeps his head sober and isn't easily fooled, not even by the beauty of women, so eventually the whole thing gets sorted out. But you never learn whether the other woman was murdered or not, but you could always hope that she survived, like doctor Robert Beatty did himself from the villain's knock-out drops.

Sorry

[dfrench_430 · 10/10 · 17 December 2020]

I realise that I said in my submission just now that it didn't contain a spoiler

But now I realise it did. Because I said Elizabeth Sellars turned out to be a lying crook

A very neat mystery.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 8 October 2023]

Notes Surgeon Doctor Fenton operates on a hit and run victim, saving his life with ground breaking, new medication. Soon after saving his life, Fenton is implicated in the man's murder.

What a thoroughly enjoyable, neat mystery this film is, another pleasing brain teaser from Francis Durbridge. This film is well acted, well paced and full of Durbridge's distinct cleverness.

It's a very elegant looking film, the cars, the sets, the fashions, it just looks wonderful, I adore the 1950's.

Robert Beattie is so good in the lead, I've been watching him in Dial 999 recently, a good presence, lots of character, and a very distinctive voice and accent.

Durbridge would go on to have many successful years ahead, Paul Temple, Melissa, The Passenger and many more. Agatha Christie's work quite rightly continues to remain current to this day, I wish someone would resurrect Durbridge's wonderful stories.

It's taken me a long time to get hold of this film, it's been out of print for some time, and never gets shown.

8/10.