Please Murder Me! (1956)

Directed by Peter Godfrey; produced by Donald Hyde

An attorney (Raymond Burr) buys a revolver, loads it and goes to his office, where he slips the weapon into a desk drawer and starts dictating a narrative into a tape-recorder. He begins with the startling claim that in 55 minutes, he would be murdered. He then explains how he arrived at this point; how, six months before, he had told his best friend (Dick Foran) that he was in love with that friend’s wife (Angela Lansbury); how he had defended his new love in court, when she was charged with his friend’s killing. And then we learn why he thinks he himself will be murdered.

This is one tense and intriguing little movie. Initially, it seems straightforward, even though, when Foran ends up dead and Lansbury is charged with homicide, the viewer knows things are not what they appear. But the storyline soon changes direction, and the simple crime drama becomes a psychological thriller, a game between two people, with the highest stakes at risk. Please Murder Me! also presents what I think must be a unique kind of suicide, as far as motion pictures are concerned; perhaps not in its execution, but in its motive and detailed planning.

The acting is excellent. Burr could play villains, such as the disarmingly charming killer in Red Light, or the colder courtyard resident in Rear Window. Here, he gets the chance to play a man of decency and loyalty, whose devotion to justice and friendship invites death. And he is utterly credible in both extremes. Similarly capable is Lansbury, whose career spanned the big and small screens, with the stage almost as prominent. In Please Murder Me!, she is able to show her versatility, as well as a villainy that is more subtle than one would expect. Just as good is support from Foran and Lamont Johnson, who later made a long career for himself as a director.

Direction in Please Murder Me! is strong, especially in its second half (in fact, while good in its first, it is in its second half that everything in the film rises beyond merely ‘watchable’). The climax really had me wondering if the killer would get away with the crimes committed. It could have gone either way. That’s a sign of suspense in a movie, and is not easily achieved.

The writing is the weakest partner in the triumvirate it forms with acting and directing, but with the quality of the others, this is forgivable. It is smart enough to make characters’ motivations discernible only after more is learned about them. And there is the imaginative murder/suicide (not the usual definition of the phrase, either) on the credit side of the story.

Packing much into just 78 minutes, Please Murder Me! shows another trait of the successful movie in making its running time seem no more nor less than it needs to be. Entertaining and tense, this is one of those forgotten little gems which deserves to be remembered.