The review headed 'Thriller with B Movie stalwarts' must have been reviewing a different episode of Scotland Yard...Russell Napier does lead the cast list, this time as Inspector Harmer, and Vincent Ball is his assistant Sgt Gifford...the villain Joe Lloyd is played by Edwin Richfield...more typical Merton Park formulaic output, but very watchable if you enjoy 'that sort of thing', as I do.
8 Reviews
"Harry Carpenter. That name rings a bell"
hwg1957-102-26570421 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
An entry in the Scotland Yard series filmed at Merton Park Studios and produced by Alec C. Snowden. A Harry Carpenter is murdered in a dark tenement building with the only witness being a blind man looking for a warm place to sleep. Inspector Harmer and Sergeant Gifford take up the investigation and through a night club singer manage to get their man. It's short and entertaining with a splendid noir look of shadow and light, directed very well by Ken Hughes. There is some location shooting in London.
Russell Napier as the capable inspector and Vincent Ball as his put upon sergeant make a good team and the versatile Edwin Richfield snarls nicely as the villain, though he isn't in it much. Edgar Lustgarten narrates in his calm and assured manner. Another fine entry in the Scotland Yard series
Russell Napier as the capable inspector and Vincent Ball as his put upon sergeant make a good team and the versatile Edwin Richfield snarls nicely as the villain, though he isn't in it much. Edgar Lustgarten narrates in his calm and assured manner. Another fine entry in the Scotland Yard series
The Dark Stairway
Prismark1022 December 2020
Edgar Lustgarten narrates this tale involving the murder of an old lag called Harry Carpenter.
Carpenter had previous at it was not for presenting Sportsnight. A woman saw a man in dark glasses near the dead man's body.
The police find out that Carpenter had once squealed on a man called Joe Lloyd in order to get a shorter prison sentence. Lloyd has recently been released from prison but nothing links him with the murder of Carpenter.
When the policeman find the man with the dark glasses they discover he is blind. Can he really be a reliable witness?
This is an entertaining B movie short. It does have a noirish feel with several people having some kind of mid atlantic accents.A sudden confession was a tad convenient though.
Carpenter had previous at it was not for presenting Sportsnight. A woman saw a man in dark glasses near the dead man's body.
The police find out that Carpenter had once squealed on a man called Joe Lloyd in order to get a shorter prison sentence. Lloyd has recently been released from prison but nothing links him with the murder of Carpenter.
When the policeman find the man with the dark glasses they discover he is blind. Can he really be a reliable witness?
This is an entertaining B movie short. It does have a noirish feel with several people having some kind of mid atlantic accents.A sudden confession was a tad convenient though.
Most enjoyable
Lucy-Lastic22 July 2019
Thriller with B Movie stalwarts
l_rawjalaurence17 February 2018
One of the things about Merton Park's series was the amount of employment given to leading actors. The main example was Russell Napier as Chief Inspector Duggan, and Vincent Ball as a series of villains. This episode had no Napier, but Ball makes a convincingly tooth-clenching villain, even if he does not have much to do.
A very imaginative plot, strong visuals.
Sleepin_Dragon1 March 2024
Small time criminal Harry Carpenter is killed on the streets of Soho, a woman spots a blind man leaving the scene of the crime, Inspector Napier begins a search for the man, who could well hold the vital clue.
For a short and a so called b movie, this was rather good, a really interesting, well plotted storyline, and some really great visuals, very much in the noir style.
I loved the way that Edgar Lustgarten introduced Soho as .... interesting, but not too bad, I'd love to know what he'd make of it now.
Some imaginative techniques used in the visuals, for 1954, this was way ahead of its time, it's surprisingly striking looking. The lineup scene was so well shot.
It's always interesting to see the way attitudes have changed, the way Napier treats George Benson is rather interesting to say the least.
Always good to see a young Vincent Ball, who played Sergeant Gifford, what a smart guy.
One of the best I've seen so far.
8/10.
For a short and a so called b movie, this was rather good, a really interesting, well plotted storyline, and some really great visuals, very much in the noir style.
I loved the way that Edgar Lustgarten introduced Soho as .... interesting, but not too bad, I'd love to know what he'd make of it now.
Some imaginative techniques used in the visuals, for 1954, this was way ahead of its time, it's surprisingly striking looking. The lineup scene was so well shot.
It's always interesting to see the way attitudes have changed, the way Napier treats George Benson is rather interesting to say the least.
Always good to see a young Vincent Ball, who played Sergeant Gifford, what a smart guy.
One of the best I've seen so far.
8/10.
Atmospheric crime featurette that holds the viewer.
jamesraeburn200315 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
A small-time criminal called Harry Carpenter is murdered on the stairway of his lodging house on Greek Street in the Soho, London. A resident saw an elderly blind man leaning over the body. Inspector Harmer (played by Russell Napier) of the Yard discovers that Carpenter had been involved in mail bag raids in 1949, but had received a reduced sentence as a result of turning in his accomplice, Joe Lloyd (played by Edwin Richfield), who got a three-year stretch in prison. Finding the blind man is, of course, vital, but Harmer suspects that Lloyd is the killer. Harmer and Sgt Gifford (played by Vincent Ball) trace Lloyd through his ex-girlfriend, a nightclub singer called Molly (played by Gene Anderson), who has been hiding him from the police. Lloyd is arrested as he boards a taxi cab outside her flat, but without any hard evidence to convict him, Harmer will have little choice but to release him once twenty-four hours have passed. But, things change after the blind man, one George Benson (played by George Manship), is picked up sleeping rough in an alley in Mercer Street. He is found with blood on his raincoat, which turns out to match that of the murdered man. It transpires that Benson had heard Carpenter's murder take place and, during the ensuing struggle, heard the victim speak his killer's name. Then, as he made his getaway, he passed Benson on the stairs who had grabbed his hands, felt the ring on his finger and smelt his distinctive aftershave. Harmer takes a gamble and arranges for an unusual ID parade with Benson as his chief witness that could finally bring the killer to book...
Atmospheric crime featurette from the Scotland Yard series of cinema 'curtain raisers'. Writer-director Ken Hughes captures a genuine feel for place and period with Soho's dangerous back streets, tatty, dingy lodging houses and smoky nightclubs providing the backdrop to this tale of thieves falling out that ultimately leads to murder. It is shot in suitably dark and seedy black and white and, the flashback to the murder shown from the blind man's perspective, is creepily done against a dark screen with white silhouettes representing the killer and the victim seen from his severely impaired vision. The story itself holds the viewer as the Yard works flat out to gather evidence against the killer. In the end, the perpetrator had made a fatal error by underestimating Benson. He thought that because he was blind he couldn't possibly have given him away without understanding that while he had lost his sight, his other senses - hearing, touch and smell - were more acute as a result. Regular viewers will notice that Russell Napier, a series regular, is playing a completely different detective on this occasion, one Inspector Harmer as opposed to Superintendent Duggan. Other familiar faces in the cast include Vincent Ball and Edwin Richfield.
Atmospheric crime featurette from the Scotland Yard series of cinema 'curtain raisers'. Writer-director Ken Hughes captures a genuine feel for place and period with Soho's dangerous back streets, tatty, dingy lodging houses and smoky nightclubs providing the backdrop to this tale of thieves falling out that ultimately leads to murder. It is shot in suitably dark and seedy black and white and, the flashback to the murder shown from the blind man's perspective, is creepily done against a dark screen with white silhouettes representing the killer and the victim seen from his severely impaired vision. The story itself holds the viewer as the Yard works flat out to gather evidence against the killer. In the end, the perpetrator had made a fatal error by underestimating Benson. He thought that because he was blind he couldn't possibly have given him away without understanding that while he had lost his sight, his other senses - hearing, touch and smell - were more acute as a result. Regular viewers will notice that Russell Napier, a series regular, is playing a completely different detective on this occasion, one Inspector Harmer as opposed to Superintendent Duggan. Other familiar faces in the cast include Vincent Ball and Edwin Richfield.
Who 'Nose' The Killer?
Bernard-Dunne28 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
One of the many entries in the 'Scotland Yard' series of film shorts, made for British cinemas in the 1950's as second features. This case was known in the police files as 'The Greek Street Murder'. It begins in Soho, London on 4th January 1952. A blind man witness's the murder of Harry Carpenter by Joe Lloyld. At the same time Mrs. Morris (a neighbour) hears the noise and then sees a man in dark spectacles feeling around the dead body. The blind man, George Benson is then falsely accused of murder because the only evidence against the real killer, Joe Lloyld is that he was released from prison in the same week. As the police try to find him by checking his haunts, Inspector Jack Hammond finds the murder weapon hidden inside the cistern over a toilet. It then comes out that Carpenter was murdered because he betrayed Lloyld to the police and then he stole his girlfriend Molly Stephens. Carpenter is later arrested and is identified by witness George Benson, who detects him by his ring, voice and the smell of the aftershave in his hair. This short is mostly studio bound rather than the usual high amount of location work around London. It's very atmospheric and almost film noir in it's feel and the great direction by Ken Hughes.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
