The Brighton Strangler (1945)

Sometimes Stylish Director Max Nosseck made this the Same Year as His Celebrated Lawrence Tierney Film-Noir, Dillinger. This One has its Moments and is a Serviceable and Above Average Thriller.The Setting is London, During the War and Much is Made of Blackouts, Coupons, and Uniforms. There are Dead Flyer Brothers that Lead to Family Deceptions and All Sorts of Odd Things. It is an Air-Raid's Falling Debris that Sends Celebrated Stage Actor John Loder into an Amnesiatic Frenzy of Schizophrenia.That is the Premise and it is Played Out with the Beginning and Ending Acts that are the Best. It Meanders a Bit in the Middle with a Romantic Sub-Plot with an American Serviceman and some Forced Comedy about American Slang, but it Manages to Keep its Footing for the Final Curtain.Overall, Worth a Watch for the Life During Wartime Setting and a Few Directorial Touches. There are some Tense Murders and it is Atmospheric in Spots. Recommended for Fans of B-Movies and Thrillers, also for those that Like a Bit of a Twist in Movie Murder Sprees.

***SPOILERS*** It was the strange combination of playing the murderous Edward Gray in the play the "Brighton Strangler" for 300 straight performances and getting hit on the head by falling debris when a Luftaffa bomb hit the London theater he was performing at ,the Mayfair,that caused actor Reginald Parker, John Loder, to completely lose it. The poor chap started to actually believe that he in fact was the "Brighton Strangler" and in that went out of his way,in far of Brighton, to do his 301th performance as the fictitious killer Edward Gray. But this time it was not an act on Parkers part but the real thing with real victims as well!Predictable since you've seen it all before in Parker playing the "Brighton Srangler" on the stage at the very beginning of the movie and knowing, by Parker telegraphing it all in advance , whats going to happen well before it does in the film! Of course no one really knows what Parker, or Edward Gray as he calls himself, is planning since his play "The Brighton Strangler" wasn't that well know,like say "Hamlet", in Brighton England so his crimes there weren't at first connected with him.It was in London pub when US Army Air Force Let. Bob Carson, Michael St. Angel, saw a poster of the play "The Brighton Strangler" with Parker's photo that he realized that the guy was the person he entrusted to be with his fiancée British WACK April Manby, June Duprez, back in Brighton while he was on his way to the front to battle the Nazis over the skies of Europe! With Gray or Parker going through the numbers,by following the "Brighton Strangler" scrip, and murdering Brighton's Mayor Herman Clive, Ion Wolf, and top cop Inspector W.R. Allison, Milles Mander, that only thing left for him was to finish off Miss Mamby to end his charade as the "Brighton Strangler" and finally call it quits.***SPOILERS*** Somewhat off the wall ending with the deranged Parker's girlfriend, who at first thought that he didn't surviver the Luftwaffe bombing, getting everyone in the movie to applaud her boyfriend's performance just as he was about to strangle April that cause him to lose his concentration and blow his big scene. Parker in him seeing what a good job of acting he did,by all the applause he got, stops strangling April and takes a bow thus falling to his death, backwards, off the roof of the hotel by not realizing how close he was to the ledge of the building! Luckily for April her murder was supposed to take place on New Years Eve which gave her and her fiancée Bob just enough time to come to her rescue! In that when Parker had a chance to murder her earlier in the movie he noticed that Big Ben wasn't ringing in the New Year and then stopped and waited for the right moment, midnight December 31th, for him to murder her!

Reginald Parker is the writer and star of the hit play "The Brighton Strangler" although the repetitive play and the constant performances have gotten to him and, despite the sell-out crowds he plans to draw it to an end and do something different. However a bombing attack on London during opening night leaves him stumbling around on his own with a head injury. As he tries to piece things together all he can get is snippets of his play and soon he finds himself remembering the life of character Edward Grey as his own and he boards a train for Brighton.Although starting out with a clever (if dated) concept this film doesn't do anything of real value with it and instead just plods towards the ending that is actually quite good in a strange way. With a central idea that was probably fresh and new back in the 1940's, the film mainly focuses on following Parker as he becomes his own creation. Problem is that, past this idea and about two moments where he struggles with his conflicting memories, there is nothing to this film and it easily becomes just a simple story about the Brighton Strangler and, if Parker's play was as straightforward as this film then I cannot understand why it sold out so much! I would have liked the character of Parker/Grey to have been complex and interesting as a result of his mixed personalities but as it is he is very straightforward and lacking imagination.Loder is good at the start and as he becomes Grey but once he is in character (literally) he just does the basics and lacks any sort of flair or style – by the end of the closing credits I had already forgotten what he even looked like. His support is just as uninspiring with solid but unmemorable turns from Duprez, St Angel, Mander, Hobart and Evans to name the main players. The director does quite well with the sets but without the material being darker and/or deeper there was only going to be so much he could do.Overall this is an interesting idea but the film doesn't carry it further than that. The characters of Grey and Parker briefly cross over twice but other than that there is nothing in either of them to produce a real interest. The murders are quite engaging but without the moral darkness they are only as atmospheric as the music and direction allows them to be. Worth seeing as a light thriller but with so much missed potential it is understandable why it is rarely seen these days.

The Brighton Strangler is another movie that BBC2 shown in the early hours over Christmas/New Year 2005-06 and I was certainly glad I taped this.An actor who plays the part of The Brighton Strangler in the play of the same name is knocked unconscious by rubble during an air raid and has a memory lapse. When he wakes up, he thinks he is in the play and heads for Brighton instead of Canterbury, where he is meant to go. In Brighton, he starts strangling people including the Mayor and Chief Inspector. Police catch up with him in the end and realise what's happened to him.The Brighton Strangler is rather eerie in parts, especially the nighttime scenes.The cast includes John Loder in the title role and Jane Duprez, Ian Wolfe.Watch this if you get the chance. Very eerie and obscure little movie.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.