Smokescreen (1964)

A blazing car crashes over a cliff. No body is found. It belonged to a co-owner of a business. Both owners had recently taken out large insurance policies. The insurance company is naturally suspicious and send an agent (Peter Vaughn) to investigate. The time frame of the accident adds to his suspicions. To complicate matters it turns out that there was an offer to buy the business that the missing man rejected but which his partner wanted to accept. To further complicate matters the local insurer (John Carson) who sold the policies loves the missing man's wife (the beautiful Yvonne Romain).The film has a bit more depth than normal B-movie fare. Throughout there is a running theme about Vaughan's expenses. This seems to be for low comedic effect but later we learn why he is so tight with money. Similarly with the denouement we learn why the film's title is appropriate.This is a pleasant, undemanding little B-movie for all the family. I give it a 7 because it's a well-made, well-written, well-acted low budget film lacking star names. Had it had an A-list budget I'd have given it a 6.

A gently, wryly humorous fairly engrossing who-done-what lacking top names but packed with familiar and able players who'd supported many a British classic. Sam Kydd - was there a British post-war film without him as able seaman, workman, stuttering gang-member or as here,once again, a waiter? Derek Guyler in a neat cameo reminding us of a time before "have-nice-day" came to these shores. Typecast they might have been but familiar because they were the best of their type. I didn't then know the name of Penny Morell but certainly recognised a top performance as the very obliging but drunken secretary. Budget production it might have been but one gets the impression of an esprit de corps of director, cast and crew of professionals working for beer-money but rightly proud nevertheless.

Came across this little known British Thriller when searching the net for similar movies. This is one of a number made by Renown pictures and there are many available to buy from them or Amazon.This is the first one I watched and I liked it very much. The story revolves around a supposed life assurance fraud, possible suicide and maybe murder.Like a lot of similar films of the time it is very short at 66 minutes but that was the least of my worries.There are some great parts played by well known character actors like Patrick flood, Deryck Guyler and Glynn Edwards, however the show is stolen by the marvellous Peter Vaughan as the tight fisted assessor, although as we see later in the film he has good reason for his meanness. I googled him afterwards and see he is still working at nearly 90!An enjoyable hour or so and I look forward to watching more in the series.

Made on a zero budget as a programme filler in the mid-Sixties. Don't let this put you off. Worth watching for the quirky, amusing script and the central performance from the always excellent Peter Vaughan. The murder mystery isn't perhaps up to Agatha Christie's standard, but the idea of insurance investigator as detective is a fairly novel one. (OK so they did it in 'Double Indemnity') Also a decent document of Britain in the early sixties.