Clue of the Silver Key (1961) User Reviews

Enjoyable way to spend an hour

[n_adams1 · 7/10 · 14 June 2013]

This short film is one of the the Edgar Wallace collection, this particular one is in volume two.

I thought it was a very enjoyable mystery and a fine way to spend an hour, I have watched a few of these films and this is about the best I have seen so far.

The plot revolves around a few murders, the first one who meets his maker is a conman played by Sam Kydd, the next one is a very mean old man played by Finlay Currie.

There are good parts played by well known actor's such as Bernard Lee, of Bond fame and Patrick Cargill.

The assailant is not revealed till the very end and it keeps the viewer guessing until then ( at least it had me guessing!) Recommended.

"The agency didn't have to send Tickler"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 18 July 2019]

Inspector Meredith and Sergeant Anson of Scotland Yard investigate the murders of a waiter called Tickler and a millionaire named Harvey Lane. But what is the connection between the two men and where is the mysterious Jordan Worth and why is the key painted silver? Meredith and Anson eventually sort out these questions. It's a good entry in the long running Edgar Wallace series filmed at Merton Park.

Meredith is played amusingly in a cantankerous way by Bernard Lee and is matched in ill-humour by Finlay Currie as Lane. Characterful support is given by Patrick Cargill, Anthony Sharp and Sam Kydd. Derrick Sherwin gives a sweet performance as the hapless Constable Quigley.

Odd little mystery

[lucyrfisher · 7/10 · 15 March 2018]

I love this series for its cool early 60s interiors. In this one, a suspect is a painter, and I'd really like to buy something from his "impressionist period". His friend and agent Hennessy has another up in his office. Otherwise, there are room dividers, rubber plants and wallpaper with silhouettes of chyrsanthemums - or was that in another in the series? Anyway, rich old money lender Finlay Currie doesn't want his niece to marry the handsome, penniless painter. Everybody is peeved with everybody else all the time, and the dialogue is quite Pinteresque, especially as it's impossible to work out what's going on. Patrick Cargill is excellent as the butler, and Bernard Lee as the man from Scotland Yard. Here he has a sergeant Anson and a dim PC called Quigley. What happened to Sgt Pepper?

Clue of the silver key

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 7 March 2023]

Police superintendent Meredith (Bernard Lee) and his younger partner Sgt. Anson (Stanley Morgan) have two disparate murders to solve: one an alcoholic waiter (Sam Kydd) found shot in the street with a large sum of cash in his pocket, the other a grouchy old blind man (Finlay Currie) who refuses to let his niece (Jennifer Daniel) marry artist Lyndon Brook.

Bernard Lee plays a crusty inspector heading the case of two murders which, he believes, are linked, and they suitably quite baffling. So baffling that you are keen to know the truth. Hence, that's the hook in this fairly pacy little British mystery thriller that features grand performances, especially by Lee and Finley Currie. The mystery gets rounded up with a neat finale where the killer is revealed.

Psychological warfare.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 17 January 2024]

Leave it to inspector Bernard Lee to come up with this motive for murder, adding "If looks could kill" to his hints to the viewer. It's another Edgar Wallace cheapie dealing with multiple murders, first a drunken waiter (Sam Kydd) who sipped champagne while working and later a miserly old blind man (Finlay Currie) who has threatened to cut a niece out of his will if she doesn't break up with someone he doesn't approve of.

Typical details dropped here and there which obviously are meant to perplex the viewer and prevent them from figuring it out, something I've realized about the several dozen entries of this mostly mediocre series. This one's a bit better with interesting setups and especially the characterization of Currie who's so close to Scrooge in every way that it's a disappointment that he doesn't bellow some of Ebenezer's key phrases. Wraps up neater than most, and of course saved by a short running time.

A real sleeper.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 16 October 2011]

The perfect type of mystery film. No action, good atmosphere, a jazzy score, fairly good actors. Typically British, but action emptiness thriller. I don't like this kind of picture very much. We can assist here the investigation around the murder of a wealthy old man. Nothing more. Of course, everything is explained in the end. Flat, boring for me. But I don't say it's a corny flick. I am sure that it could please many viewers. A mystery crime film as there were millions in the US and UK movie industry. A grade B picture, as you can guess, right in the line of Edgard Wallace stories.

Nevertheless, I saw better in that series of little features from the other side of the Channel.