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The Harassed Hero
Poor Mr. Murray Selwyn (Guy Middleton)! He's suffering from 'Acute Apprehension Complex' and his doctors have strongly recommended that he avoid any stress or excitement in his life. Unfortunately -- thanks to a chance encounter in a London taxi cab -- he now finds himself at the very centre of an explosive international criminal caper and his life is filled with suitcases full of hot money, desperate gunmen and vanishing bodies! More dangerous still, he's been cared for by the rather ravishing Nurse Brook (Joan Winmill Brown) -- a girl guaranteed to stimulate any red-blooded English gentleman! How much excitement can one man take?
| Release : | 1954 |
| Rating : | 5.5 |
| Studio : | |
| Crew : | Director, Novel, |
| Cast : | Guy Middleton Mary Mackenzie Harold Goodwin |
| Genre : | Comedy Thriller |
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Reviews
Too much of everything
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Firstly can I make the point that despite what is said in the earlier review this film is now available on DVD as part of the "Best of British" collection,which I would add is the only laughable thing about this film.Shot on a small budget at Walton on Thames studios.Guy Middleton is going into a clinic for his nerves.He accidentally picks up a briefcase from a taxi.It turns out to contain forged five pound notes and counterfeit plates.Middleton removes and replaces the notes but not the plates.The plates then seem to have a life of their own as they are chased constantly by the crooks.I would mention that the DVD also has the original trailer which is a lot better than the film.Incidentally one gaffe I spotted.A crook takes a motor launch out to a yacht.When he gets in the launch he is alone,when he gets off on to the yacht there is someone with him.Now that is funny.
Initially there are shades of 'Jeeves and Wooster' with Murray Selwyn and his servant Twigg in this mildly amusing crime-comedy. Selwyn arrives home one day by taxi and Twigg carries his purchases into the house. However they soon discover they have also acquired a briefcase stuffed with five pound notes left in the taxi by the previous passenger. These are actually forged notes made on engraved plates by an expert engraver called Joe Pasquale who is currently doing 10 years in Dartmoor. The plates were never found by the police but they also fall into the possession of Selwyn by circumstances too complicated to explain here. The rest of the film is concerned with a criminal gang's efforts to acquire the plates (ably led by Elwyn Brook-Jones) and their frustration at always being one step behind the location of the plates.Throughout the film, circumstances lead the police to suspect Selwyn of being implicated in the crime and much of the humour involves his truthful explanations to the incredulous police Inspector Archer (nicely played by the usually staid Clive Morton). Overall the acting is good with Guy Middleton as Selwyn being his usual suave self and the plot fast moving.Apparently this ultra-rare film has not been seen since its initial release but if you're an aficionado of British second features of the 1950s I venture to say you will not be disappointed with this one
