Good start, but then it gets ruined

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

This is pure whodunit,in the grand tradition of Agatha Christie and there are similarities with the lady of crime's "murder on the links" ,but the solution is not as brilliant as hers ,because in this field,she has no equal.Anyway ,everyone who likes Christie will relish .A desirable mansion ,where a man took his own life (or was it murder?) and suspects including two secretaries,one of whom may be in love with the dead's wife and the other one may be jealous.But the main asset of the movie is the wealthy (suicidal?) businessman ,masterfully portrayed by Orson Welles whom we only see in flashbacks :the scene when we hear his formidable voice ,but only the back of his armchair gives the jitters. Michael Wilding has no gray cells,but he displays flair for clues ,as though he had be trained by Hercule Poirot.Entertaining whodunit.

All the characters just talk and talk till the proverbial cows come home.There is hardly any action and when it does occur it is talked over by one of the characters.Unfortunately by this stage of his career Herbert Wilcox had clearly lost whatever touch he had in the first place.After his success with Anna Neagle in the forties he turned out one dud after another in the fifties and by the end of the decade he was bankrupt.Quite frankly this film is more akin to a radio play than a film.I suggest that for say 5 minutes you turn down the picture brightness and just listen.You will not miss a thing.There is absolutely nothing cinematic about this film.The only point of suspense is how long are we going to have to wait for Orson to appear and how long will he appear for.Other than that the only pleasure in this film is seeing a very young Kenneth Williams and Miles Malleson with an odd wig and an even stranger beard.Looks like an inverted ice cream cone.

One other reviewer stated this so well: "If it weren't for the presence of Orson Welles as the ostensible murder victim in Trent's Last Case, this rather indifferent British murder mystery would be consigned to blessed obscurity. For that the rest of the cast should be grateful."I agree. Not only was I bored to death it took me 3 weeks to get through this thing a few minutes at a time. The film look nice. All the male leads are charming. The female lead is gorgeous, but has little to do except mourn, play the piano, and look sad some more. When Welles does appear (in flashback); he quite over the top and you WANT him to die. Our detective doesn't do very much and somehow gets the girl in the end. Bah!

A very dull movie on a novel which was famous because it tried to be the reversal of the usual mystery novels. A long work by the amateur detective which results in an impregnable indictment of the murder, until in the end someone confesses having witnessed what was an accident. The picture is too talky. Even its denouement is talked. No suspense at all. By 1952 Herbert Wilcox had proved not to be the notable director they claimed he was in the thirties. Good performances by Michael Wilding and Orson Welles. Indifferent by an aging Margaret Lockwood.