Murder at 3am (1955)

This film seems to have been made in the smallest film studio ever.In one scene there are 4actors crammed in what seems to be a broom cupboard..When they take to a boat on the river there is no attempt at back projection,merely a black background.The story is feeble and poorly constructed and doesn't make a great deal of sense.Dennis Price is unable to salvage anything from it.

MURDER AT 3AM is a short and cheap British crime film, directed by the one and only Francis Searle - a man who made more low budget films than any other, seemingly. I wonder what he would have done with a real budget? This stolid little film is notable only for featuring a lead role for Dennis Price, one of the biggest name stars to appear in one of Searle's films.The story is about a serial killer on the loose who makes a habit of murdering women on the street at precisely 3 am. The police desperately search for patterns and soon discover links to a local shipyard and gradually - very gradually - they work to bringing the murderer to justice.Sadly, MURDER AT 3AM just isn't very good as a crime film. The crime aspects are kept limited and the police procedural stuff is by rote. Price can do nothing with his part and only Leonard Sharp shines as the booze-addled old skipper who helps to solve the crime. The finale features a silly plot twist which is impossible to take seriously.

Scotland Yard is baffled (aren't they always??) by a series of attacks on wealthy women, each of the victims are seen leaving exclusive clubs, they are tracked to their homes where they are then left for dead after being robbed of their valuables. This nifty little crime drama throws the viewer in at the deep end instantly, a woman is murdered, the clock strikes 3 am and a rather nervous man is trying to explain why he was late again to his annoyed girl friend. He goes home when, in the shadowy room, a girl's arm is seen draped over a chair!! Conventionality kicks in and the man is revealed as a policeman and the girl, his sister, who has stayed up to tell him of her engagement to a moody crime writer.Quota quickies had been around since the 1930s as part of a British drive to boost the flagging film industry but after the war, ticket prices dropped in an effort to once again get people back to the cinemas. But the public wanted more and the question was asked "What's on with it"!! A lot of the time cheap films looked exactly what they were but occasionally terrific little movies came along and "Murder at 3am" was one of them.Whilst the cast is a small one, everyone looms as a suspect. Teddy, Joan's fiancé, being a crime writer hits upon a novel approach and the police are willing to listen to any lead!! With each woman seen leaving a different club, by spelling out the first letters of each club, it begins to give the police a clue as to where the killer will strike next - the only trouble is he doesn't!! Inspector Peter Lawton (who is still a suspect in the viewer's eyes as played by a debonair Dennis Price) is wondering - could it be Teddy or even an inside job!! Suddenly one of the survivors identifies a photo slipped into an identikit by an over-zealous constable and the action accelerates.The big surprise for me is that this was Peggy Evan's last film. She was not only in the almost cult "quota quickie" "Penny and the Pownall Case"(1947) but was memorable as Dirk Bogarde's increasingly anxious girl friend in "The Blue Lamp" (1950). These two should have given her a reasonable career but she only made 10 movies. She did live a long life but retired way too early!

This thriller has Dennis Price, unusually, playing the part of a detective. He is in charge of a case of a serial killer attacking women in the early hours of the morning, as they leave various nightclubs. Dennis Price plays Inspector Lawson who enlists the help of his best friend to help unravel the case.His friend, Edward King, played by Phillip Saville, comes up with a theory that the murderer is using the initials from various nightclubs to spell out the name of his next club.After following numerous red herrings, including suspecting the inspectors closest friend, the murderer turns out to be his friends long lost twin brother!A cheap and cheerful quickie spoilt by the overuse of organ music that belongs to the silent era.