The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (TV Series) Partners in Crime (1961) User Reviews

Wrong car!

[Lucy-Lastic · 7/10 · 12 May 2013]

Previous reviewer:- "Rolls Royce pulls up" Wrong! It was a Bentley Continental actually - luxury cars both of course but quite a bit of difference in style.

Having now bought the entire series on DVD am now going through them all in chronological order (hoping I will see and remember a particular one I saw at the cinema in the early 60s - they were always a 'B' feature); this one, so far, is the best one.

Loved seeing the "period pieces" i.e. The cars and lorries, and recognising actors in their early days, for example, Nicholas Smith (the pawnbroker's assistant) who ironically was in Are You Being Served as Mr. Rumbold along with Larry Martyn who played the "thug" trying to sell him the stolen gun.

"Steady on sport, that's good money"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 15 December 2018]

A soft drinks manufacturer Harold Strickland comes back from a dinner with his wife Freda and after wishing her goodnight goes into his study to work on some sales figures. However the study has been ransacked and a masked figure silhouetted in the dark shoots him as he stands there dumbfounded. Inspector Mann of Scotland Yard investigates and discovers the partners in crime of the film's title. The partners in crime are soon revealed in the film but there are a few twists and turns before justice prevails.

Bernard Lee is authoritative as usual as Inspector Mann and the rest of the cast are right for their roles. There is pleasing location cinematography by Bert Mason and efficient direction by Peter Duffell. A fair entry in the long running Edgar Wallace series filmed at Merton Park

An effective supporting feature.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 7/10 · 11 April 2018]

"Partners in Crime" is one of the better films that were loosely based upon the stories by Edgar Wallace. 47 of these films were produced in Britain from 1960 to 1965 and released as supporting features to the major films. Bernard Lee is very good as the investigating police officer, he brings a good deal of authority to his character. The opening scene is quite creepy as the killer is mainly photographed in near darkness as he breaks into the house in question. The pace is pretty good on the whole. I wouldn't say that there are endless action set pieces but the film remains interesting and watchable throughout. The dialogue is just what you would expect from a film of this kind but it works as well as it has to. As with all of the Edgar Wallace films, the opening credits show a detailed bust of the author as it slowly rotates against the recording of the song, "Man of Mystery" (rather adept I must say). It is slightly beguiling to observe this bust as you could half expect Edgar Wallace to suddenly come back to life!

Efficient b-pic crime drama that succeeds in bringing out the suspense from its situations.

[jamesraeburn2003 · 15 December 2016]

Harry Strickland, chairman of the Cool Kups soft drinks firm, is shot dead in his study which the killer has also ransacked. The police, lead by Inspector Mann, are surprised that only fifty pounds has been stolen leading them to suspect that they are dealing with a premeditated killing disguised as a robbery in which a shot was fired in panic by the burglar on being disturbed. Strickland's partner, Frank Merrill, tells Inspector Mann that his own house was broken into only a few weeks before. Could there be a connection? Is a disgruntled ex-employee looking for revenge? In reality, Merrill is in love with Strickland's wife, Freda, and they conspired to murder him because he was preparing to sale the company and wanted to buy his partner out. In addition, the company seeking to take over Cool Kups wanted to retain Strickland on their board but wanted to fire Merrill. So the scheming pair hired Rex Holland, an Australian working as a driver for Cool Kups, to shoot Strickland. Holland is in love with Mary, a waitress at a road transport café, and plans to use his payoff to take her with him back to Australia in order to begin a new life. Clumsily, Holland left the murder gun in his cab and two teenage tearaways or "cabin pinchers" steal it and then attempt to sale it to a pawnbroker who calls the police. Inspector Mann discovers that the gun is registered to Frank Merrill but, time is running out, because he and Freda are on Holland's tail and plan to murder him before he can spill the beans and Mary's life is threatened too...

Efficient b-pic crime drama that succeeds in bringing out suspense from its situations thanks to vigorous direction which, in this case, is by Peter Duffell (The House That Dripped Blood). The fact that this cannot be described as a genuine mystery since we know the identity of the culprits early on does not spoil our enjoyment of the film. Bernard Lee is suitably tough as an ex-forces man turned copper while John Van Eyssen and Moira Redmond offer natural performances as Frank Merrill and Freda Strickland; two typically hard nosed business people living self-satisfied lives. Like so many Edgar Wallace Mysteries it is very professionally made with more care taken to the set work than one would normally expect for this kind of production and Bert Mason's atmospheric black and white camera-work enlivens the feeling for place and period; the early 1960's that can be recalled with affection.

Partners in Crime

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 28 January 2021]

With a title like Partners in Crime and the fact that the baddies are identified early on.

This is not much of an Edgar Wallace mystery.

Harry Strickland is a chairman of a soft drinks company who comes home after a night out. It seems he has disturbed a burglar in his study and is shot dead.

When Strickland's business partner, Frank Merrill tells Inspector Mann (Bernard Lee) that his own house was also broken into only a few weeks earlier. There could be a link. Maybe it was a disgruntled employee targeting the bosses.

The episode reveals too quickly that Merrill is in on the murder. He is also carrying on with Strickland's wife.

Merrill had hired an Australian Rex Holland working for the firm to kill Strickland as he planned to sell the firm and the new company would retain him but not Merrill.

This is a plodding thriller with everyone making stupid mistakes. Holland's truck gets robbed by a couple of tearaways.

Mann is dogged but a plodder. He has to go and see a financial journalist to find out about the boardroom antics about the drinks firm.

Even though Mann suspects that Merrill might be involved. He rather abruptly tells Merrill that the murder weapon has been found.

The climax is very contrived as everyone converges at a truck stop to look for Rex Holland. The action scenes at the end lack any style.

Unremarkable police procedural

[enochsneed · 22 February 2014]

Edgar Wallace wrote around 170 novel and nearly 1000 short stories. People used to joke about reading "this morning's Wallace". So it is not surprising some are rather lacklustre. Assuming the screenplay does not let Wallace down this story lacks the plot twists that make some of his stories real puzzlers until the finale.

This is a routine police procedural where a 'burglary gone wrong' is a cover for murder. The twist (such as it is) is that the villain behind it all is the business partner of the victim and his wife's lover. He puts his trust in a rather careless confederate and we watch a police inspector piece together the clues, evidence and coincidences to solve the case. The story comes to a dramatic climax which I assume is original to the screenplay.

The film is competent but nothing more. The performances are rather tired and flat. Unlike some of the Merton Park Wallace films which show some flash of originality (when someone like Clive Donner handles the direction) there is an air of 'we all know this is a cheap second feature so let's just do it and get it over with'.

Cool Kups

[fillherupjacko · 28 March 2007]

Big houses gently lit on an affluent suburban avenue. Rolls Royce pulls up, well-heeled types alight: a silver cigarette case chap in a tuxedo (John Van Eyssen), a Charles Lawton where there's muck there's brass cigar chomper (Victor Platt), and his permanent wave fox fur lady wife (Moira Redmond, who later popped up in an episode of The Sweeney, Sweeney fans). Once inside, cigar man's wife retires and Harry (that's Victor Platt) typically heads off to his study. But what's this? The old boy's safe has been riffled and, what's more, there's someone at the French windows pointing a pistol at Harry's grid. He fires! Harry falls shot to the floor and dead.

Thus begins another Edgar Wallace Mystery – a film, in its country of origin, and not a TV episode, as stated here, albeit somewhat short for a feature. Wallace was writing in the 1910s and 20s and this is based on one of his novels. Which one I'm not sure (research!) The film adaptation considerably updates things though to reflect contemporary worries about the new decade, the 60s. Hence Harry's killer is dismissed by police as "a young thug with a gun in his pocket."

"The new regime", mutters dependable old Bernard Lee (yes, that one, M fans), seen here as Inspector Mann of Scotland Yard.

There's also an Aussie (Gordon Boyd) who kills for money (they're descended from criminals, you see) and a couple of motorbike kids who rob from lorries parked up by the Castle Café, a pull in. One of these, Larry Martyn, a sort of Sam Kydd of the 70s and 80s if you like, enjoyed/ endured his only major roll in Are You Being Served? playing Mr Mash. His accident prone turn in an oft repeated public information film of the 70s made him a familiar face.

Inspector Mann reserves particular contempt for the murdered man's fizzy pop product, Cool Kups – the drink that makes you sparkle/ tingle/ the drink that's good for you. Try it today! and has a look of Don't tell me what to do lady as he listens to one of their advertising jingles.

All in all this is an unremarkable entry to this series of films and the fireball conclusion in a scrap yard of old cars fails to raise things above the routine.

Choose your partners carefully!

[robin-moss2 · 2 July 2013]

Partners In Crime is fairly typical of the films adapted from Edgar Wallace stories and made for very little money at Merton Park Studios within a three week shooting schedule. The basic story line is no more than adequate but the fast pace of the movie keeps the audience interested.

A man arranges for his business partner to be murdered. He employs the services of a man who is so unreliable that he does not dispose of the murder weapon and lets his girl friend know he has mysteriously come into big money. The murder weapon is then stolen and eventually falls into the hands of the police. It is then just a matter of time.

Bernard Lee plays the investigating police officer and does rather well. Unfortunately most of the other actors give substandard performances. As with all the films in this series, the lighting and editing is first class and the movie is never dull.

An effective crime yarn from UK

[searchanddestroy-1 · 4 March 2012]

This Edgard Wallace Mystery episode - or film - reminds me another one I watched some months ago; nearly the same story. A wealthy business man is murdered at his home. His associates seems to have paid a man for this crime. The hood in question took a gun from the safe he cracked, the associate of the late business is aware of that and asks the henchman to get rid of the piece. But the same henchman has the gun stolen by two petty thugs. Follow me?

Things get complicated for the sleeping partner. The couple of thugs get arrested after they brought the gun to a pawnbroker shop. They tell the police where they got the weapon.

I won't tell anymore about this effective crime flick. A good episode in the EW collection. I have seen worse.