Disturbing yet enthralling

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Blistering performances.

A Viewfinder Films Production for British Lion/Bryanston Films. Released in the U.S.A. by Cinema V Distributing, Inc. New York opening simultaneously at the Embassy and the Murray Hill: 24 November 1964. Not copyrighted in the U.S.A. U.K. release through Bryanston/British Lion: 1 December 1963. Location scenes filmed in London. 8,409 feet. 93 minutes. Cut to 90 minutes in the U.S.A. U.S. release title: The MODEL MURDER CASE. SYNOPSIS: Inspector Birkett and Sergeant Saunders are called in to investigate the murder of a model, in whose ransacked apartment the only clues they find consist of a cheap ballpoint pen and a gun which has been hidden in the toilet cistern. They interview her neighbor, television actor David Dane; her mother, Mrs Gray; her friend, Perlita; Perlita's husband, Hammond, and his brother Jordon; all without making much evident progress. The investigation later goes further afield, and they interview Rodney Herter, manager of a select gambling club; former opera star, Madame Lavalle; and William Lamotte, a prominent shipping magnate.COMMENT: Very well directed (I particularly like the scene in the deserted prima donna's chamber, with Elizabeth Vaughan's enchanting voice on the sound track), beautifully photographed, but a script that, ingenious and witty though it may be, evidently lends itself to some curiously stiff and wooden performances. One could almost cite the entire cast with the exception of Fraser and Asher. Still, it's an entertaining film, far above the level of the usual Scotland Yard whodunit. (Available on a very good Odeon DVD).

I have seen "Sapphire", "Violent Playground" and "Hell Drivers" but was very surprised to find that Britain had it's own niche of gritty, noirish crime thrillers. They don't have the stylized dark alleys, beautiful dames that spell "trouble" and laid back drawling gumshoes but they do have realism in spades and in the 1960s were still making them. Ian Hendry was a terrifically versatile actor who first came to notice in the TV series "The Avengers" - I have seen him as a sleazy beauty contest promoter in "The Beauty Jungle", a sadistic sergeant in "The Hill" and only the other week, twin brothers (one criminally insane of course) in a Thriller episode "A Killer With Two Faces". I was also surprised to read the comments which had Hendry's Inspector Birkett described as dull and unexciting - I mean he drives a Jaguar and loves opera, maybe Colin Dexter saw this movie before he created Inspector Morse!!He has been called in to investigate the murder of a model, the only clues being a ball point pen found in a nearby bush and a gun in a cistern. They meet her upstairs neighbour, a posturing TV actor David Dane (James Villiers) and his annoying Pekinese who, of course, is putty in Birkett's hands. Dain, however, acts dumb when asked about the private life of Ursula Grey. Their search leads them to an old school friend, Perlita Barker (Natasha Parry from popular 1970s show "Father, Dear Father") whose sinister husband paints a picture of a promiscuous girl who had a baby at 16.For all the convoluted plot it is pretty leisurely and could have had a tighter reins put on the editing. Also featured is Blakeleys, a very swanky up market club that Virginia frequented - "there will be a few worried gentlemen there". To his wife's question of whether she was a call girl, Birkett replies "I think she did all the calling". A gorgeous Jeremy Brett plays Jordan Barker, who claims to be Ursula's fiancée, implicates Dain in a black mail plot involving Ursula and her "medicine" and also Madame La Valle, a once renowned opera singer who lost her voice and now relies on "medicine" (cocaine) to get her through the lonely nights. Her assistant (Rosalie Crutchley) grants Birkett his wish of being able to listen to the great artist sing. They are soon back to square one when Daine is found dead at a jazz club, also a dubious pick up place for homosexuals.After a good fifteen minutes following Jordan around the port, he is an oyster fisherman and the police have a tip off the cocaine may be being smuggled via hollow oars - I know, I know - what will script writers come up with next!! the mystery is solved literally within the last 60 seconds when the police remember the one person who doesn't have any reason to wish Ursula well!!As well as everyone mentioned, Kieran Moore is featured as well as lovely Jane Asher as Birkett's teenage daughter, Lindy, who goes into mourning on the death of her idol, David Dain with a "you don't understand Dad" when Birkett tries to explain why he is not exactly heart broken at Dain's death!!Highly Recommended.

This film has recently surfaced on Movies4Men.It is the sort of police drama that would be the support to some big American film at the Odeon or ABC.Ian hendry who stars in this ,should really have become a big star,but his career spiraled downward in the seventies mainly due to his drinking which eventually killed him at a very early age.I in fact saw him in a sorry state in a pub in Golders Green Road.The film is really a bit of a mess.There are too many suspects with lots of red herrings.the murderer is rather unlikely with no clues given as to the killers identity.The detectives always just get home when the phone rings and they have to go out again.You just wonder at the great overtime bills they must be clocking up.They literally plod around crime scenes picking up items willy nilly in a way that could easily wipe any prints.Clearly no SOCO at that time.Ronald Fraser plays the slightly comic detective.However i have to say that all this film induced in me was sleep.

And no Christie either.Hence a rather unexciting detective story which blends Agatha's whodunit with film noir elements.A bevy of characters is overkill in lieu of a well-constructed mystery.The performances are a bit listless and the director tries a hand at humor with one of his inspectors'cold.Attshoo!The most interesting in this movie is the settings,chiefly in the second half.One of them seems to be a gay bar,but the word (it's 1963)is not uttered;Some scenes are filmed on location on the Thames banks; a chase in a graveyard is rather good.Nevertheless,it will satisfy neither Christie's countless following (the plot is too poor) nor the film noir buffs (too watered-down and not enough ambiguity).Stick with Hercule,Jane,and co.