A Matter of Murder is a 1949 British second feature ('B') crime film directed and written by John Gilling and starring Maureen Riscoe, John Barry, Charles Clapham, Ian Fleming and John Le Mesurier.
Contents
Plot
Mild-mannered bank clerk Geoffrey Dent is persuaded by his nagging, gold-digging girlfriend, Laura, to embezzle money. When an attempt is made on Laura's life, Geoffrey runs away with the cash to avoid being blamed. With the killer and a detective hot on his heels, Geoffrey hides out in a Cheltenham boarding house, where he becomes the murderer's next intended victim.
Cast
John Barry as Geoffrey Dent
Maureen Riscoe as Julie McKelvin
Charles Clapham as Col Peabody
Ivan Craig as Tony
Ian Fleming as Det Sgt McKelvin
John Le Mesurier as Ginter
Sonya O'Shea as Laura Wilson
Peter Madren as Sgt Bex
Sam Lee as Cullen
Blanche Fothergill as Miss Budge
Tony Doonan as Suspect (uncredited)
Production
The film was made by Vandyke Productions at Viking Studios, and on location at a former girls' school in Kensington dressed as a boarding house, and Paddington Station.
Reception
Kine Weekly wrote: "Stilted acting and dialogue remove the edge from many intended thrills. Very moderate quota offering."
Picturegoer wrote: "Characters are drawn from stock, with a provincial boarding house setting, and the drama as a whole is most ingenuous. Maureen Riscoe is quite good as the heroine, but the rest of the cast hardly comes up to scratch."
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Tatty programme-filler."