Wanted for Murder (1946)

Directed by Lawrence Huntington; produced by Marcel Hellman

Businessman Victor Colebrooke (Eric Portman) is handsome, cultured, wealthy and has a way with the ladies; he is also neurotic, quick-tempered, unreasonable and insane. So far, he has strangled six women, with the police investigation, led by Detective Chief Inspector Conway (Roland Culver), at a dead end. But with his mania increasing, Colebrooke is taking too many chances for the intelligent Conway to be far behind. But will Scotland Yard catch the killer before he finishes with his next victim?

There is no mystery here, except whether the murderer will be caught, and when – and how far he will carry his homicidal spree in the meantime. The plot is straightforward, and it’s the screenplay (co-written by Emeric Pressburger), with the acting, that propels the story. Taken from a play, the various scenes, particularly the last, which takes place in Hyde Park, release the film from any resemblance to stage work, though the emphasis on dialogue suggests its origins.

The writing creates a number of relationships, each of which has an effect on the others. Not only does Colebrooke’s mother, worried and vaguely suspicious over her son’s life, figure prominently in the story, but so does Colebrooke’s long-dead father – a Victorian-era hangman! Though an interesting suggestion as to the son’s murderous impulses, the latter connection raises a question on the part of the viewer: would have an affluent family allowed their daughter to marry someone whose trade is execution?

The acting is very good. The male lead is played by the excellent Eric Portman – not his first time in a Pressburger-penned film – whose naturally superior expression lends itself well to the rôle. His character’s growing distraction is well-realised and, though at the film’s start, Colebrooke successfully – though barely – hides his increasing madness, it takes over his life by the end. Each stage is credible, thanks to Portman.

Though she has a little less time on screen, the female lead is as good, and an even more remarkable person in real-life. Dulcie Gray was a very popular movie-actress in the 1940s and ‘50s, but she was better known as a stage performer. She was married for 59 years to fellow actor Michael Denison. They were not only regarded as very happy together, they were apparently as happy collaborating on work-projects, being in several movies and plays together. Between them, they accomplished more than a hundred West End productions. As if that were not enough, Gray wrote many books, mostly mysteries, but also biographies. She was also an expert on butterflies. Evidently feeling the need to expand her horizons, she became very well known in her old age for her television work. In Wanted for Murder, Gray makes her character, Anne Fielding, quite winning. Though not the prettiest of actresses, it is easy to see why more than one man is attracted to her.

Culver is suitably clever and dogged as the police inspector, while a small host of other familiar British actors appear, including Stanley Holloway, atypically playing a police detective (though used for comic relief); Derek Farr, as one of Anne’s admirers; Kathleen Harrison, as a servant (what would have been called then a ‘cook-general’). Also to be seen in small, early bits are Moira Lister, as Colebrooke’s secretary, and Wilfred Hyde-White, nearly unrecognizable behind a large mustache (though that voice is unmistakable), as a wax-museum’s guard.

Though the direction is not much above ordinary, it does provide interest, and the climax is well-handled. And, as priorly mentioned, it translates the play from stage to screen effectively.

Wanted for Murder works its acting and writing into an entertaining crime story, perhaps more of a psychological character study than a thriller, but successful enough in both categories to merit watching.