The second in the series of Scotland Yard mysteries, directed once again by Ken Hughes, this one involves moving the action from Britain to France as well as a dream-sequence. There is probably a little too much plot-narration for a 25-minute thriller, but the action lurches headlong to a violent and unexpected denouement. Worth the time to watch.
4 Reviews
"Such a terrible dream"
hwg1957-102-26570428 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
An entry in the Scotland Yard series filmed at Merton Park Studios and produced by Alec C. Snowden. A newly retired vicar and his wife come to London to visit their son who appears to have gone to Paris without telling them even though they thought he was expecting them. The couple move into their new retirement home but still don't hear from their son. Then the wife has a strange dream and the vicar consults Scotland Yard. This is a brisk but interesting story with some good camera work and atmospheric use of the negative film process.
Tristan Rawson and Evelyn Moore are well cast as the old couple worried about their son and the able supporting players include Howard Lang, Robert Cawdron and the ever reliable Roger Delgado . As usual the calm and collected Edgar Lustgarten narrates the story.
Tristan Rawson and Evelyn Moore are well cast as the old couple worried about their son and the able supporting players include Howard Lang, Robert Cawdron and the ever reliable Roger Delgado . As usual the calm and collected Edgar Lustgarten narrates the story.
The Missing Man
Prismark1016 December 2020
Edgar Lustgarten narrates a tragic story with a psychic twist.
The Reverend John Neill and his wife have retired to their new home. They were due to meet their son Gerald in London only to find out that he has suddenly gone to Paris.
To the police this is just another routine missing persons case. They close the file once they get reports from Paris that a person matching Gerald's description has been seen in Paris. It seems Gerald has withdrawn a lot of money from French banks.
The retired vicar goes to Paris to continue the search for his son. It was prompted by a disturbing dream his wife had, that Gerald's body was down in some well.
The vicar comes across Gerald's friend who tells him that his son had never came to Paris. They were due to travel there together.
When the vicar returns to London, he finds a clue that takes him to a strange farm, as described in the dream his wife had. There is also a well on the farm.
Lustgarten could never explain the reasons for the wife's dream. It is a nice little thriller with some spookiness.
The Reverend John Neill and his wife have retired to their new home. They were due to meet their son Gerald in London only to find out that he has suddenly gone to Paris.
To the police this is just another routine missing persons case. They close the file once they get reports from Paris that a person matching Gerald's description has been seen in Paris. It seems Gerald has withdrawn a lot of money from French banks.
The retired vicar goes to Paris to continue the search for his son. It was prompted by a disturbing dream his wife had, that Gerald's body was down in some well.
The vicar comes across Gerald's friend who tells him that his son had never came to Paris. They were due to travel there together.
When the vicar returns to London, he finds a clue that takes him to a strange farm, as described in the dream his wife had. There is also a well on the farm.
Lustgarten could never explain the reasons for the wife's dream. It is a nice little thriller with some spookiness.
One of the best Scotland Yard featurettes.
jamesraeburn200328 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A retired vicar, The Rev. John Neill (Tristam Rawson) and his wife (Evelyn Moore), are worried about the disappearance of their young son Gerald. He was last heard of in Paris, and regarding it as a routine missing persons case, Scotland Yard promptly closes the file. But, one night, Mrs Neill has a terrifying dream in which she sees her son on a ruined farm; she calls out to him but he does not reply. He enters an outbuilding and there follows the sound of gun shots. Another man emerges from the building dragging out Gerald's body , which he disposes of down a nearby well. This prompts the vicar to conduct his own investigation into his beloved son's disappearance. So he flies to Paris and turns the city upside down, but to no avail. It is only by a chance meeting with a family friend at the Gare De' Nord that he discovers Gerald had meant to have been flying to Paris accompanied by this friend, but he never appeared at the airport. This can only mean that somebody had come to the city impersonating him and had fraudulently withdrawn all of his money from the bank as well as checking into a hotel using his name. Back in England, the vicar discovers that Gerald had a friend called James Wilson who owns a Kent stud farm. However, he arrives to find the farm deserted and up for sale since it has recently been gutted by fire. It resembles the one Mrs Neill had described in her dream. Scotland Yard's Supt Wainwright has the place searched and the body of a man is dragged from the well, which the vicar identifies as being that of his son. Meanwhile, it transpires that Wilson is dead but was a known criminal. It seems that he had started the fire in a vain bid to pull off an insurance fraud and, when the police tried to arrest him, he killed himself. Wainwright finds out that he had owed Gerald money; so did he lure him to the farm and kill him? Was it Wilson masquerading as Gerald in Paris? It seems probable, but since he is dead and there is no hard evidence to prove it, the circumstances behind Gerald's death will remain unsolved.
The second film in Anglo Amalgamated's long running series of Scotland Yard featurettes. Written and directed by Ken Hughes this is one of the better episodes, which shows what can be possible within the seemingly tight confines of short film production. In the course of half an hour we hop across the channel from London to Paris and back again. Then we go for a run down to the picturesque Kent countryside and it really is amazing just how much plot and action that Hughes was able to shoehorn into it before tying it all together into a neat and logical conclusion. But, the most interesting aspect about the story has to be the supernatural and psychic phenomenon elements that have been introduced into it. Evelyn Moore's premonition or nightmare is imaginatively shot in a black and white tinted sequence , which manages to be mildly unsettling and atmospheric. In addition, it poses the question about whether there really are forces of the supernatural and the uncanny that no scientist can explain, which can have a profound impact on events. Since this is an unsolved case, we the audience are left to draw our own conclusions as to how the vicar's son met his fate and whether or not it was Wilson who had murdered him. Maybe somebody else did and Wilson, through fear of being framed, took his own life. It leaves us with much to think about and it is all the more rewarding for that.
The second film in Anglo Amalgamated's long running series of Scotland Yard featurettes. Written and directed by Ken Hughes this is one of the better episodes, which shows what can be possible within the seemingly tight confines of short film production. In the course of half an hour we hop across the channel from London to Paris and back again. Then we go for a run down to the picturesque Kent countryside and it really is amazing just how much plot and action that Hughes was able to shoehorn into it before tying it all together into a neat and logical conclusion. But, the most interesting aspect about the story has to be the supernatural and psychic phenomenon elements that have been introduced into it. Evelyn Moore's premonition or nightmare is imaginatively shot in a black and white tinted sequence , which manages to be mildly unsettling and atmospheric. In addition, it poses the question about whether there really are forces of the supernatural and the uncanny that no scientist can explain, which can have a profound impact on events. Since this is an unsolved case, we the audience are left to draw our own conclusions as to how the vicar's son met his fate and whether or not it was Wilson who had murdered him. Maybe somebody else did and Wilson, through fear of being framed, took his own life. It leaves us with much to think about and it is all the more rewarding for that.
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