Hugh Pryse Movies

The British omnibus thriller, Three Cases of Murder includes two supernatural tales and a straight whodunit. The first segment, "The Picture," was directed by Wendy Toye, based on a short story by Roderick Wilkinson. A museum tour guide, Jarvis (Hugh Pryse), is plagued by artworks going missing, and by the mysterious repeated breaking of the protective glass over a gloomy landscape painting. Jarvis is fascinated by the dark, foreboding house in the painting. One day while he's admiring it, he bumps into a stranger (Alan Badel, who appears in all three segments). Jarvis ends up following the stranger into the world of the painting with terrifying consequences. Eddie Byrne (General Willard in Star Wars) plays the demented taxidermist, Snyder. In the second segment, "You Killed Elizabeth," written by Sidney Carroll (who co-wrote The Hustler), and directed by David Eady, lifelong friends fall in love with the same woman. George (Emrys Jones) has always stood in Edgar's (John Gregson) shadow. The two have a falling out when they realize they both love Elizabeth (Elizabeth Sellars), and when she later turns up dead, it affects the friendship in a surprising way. Badel plays the friendly bartender, Harry. The final story, "Lord Mountdrago," was based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. Directed by George More O'Ferrall, the segment stars Orson Welles as Lord Mountdrago, the officious secretary of state for foreign affairs. Mountdrago uses his oratory powers to destroy the career of a charismatic political opponent, Owen (Badel again). Mountdrago then finds himself tormented by the vengeful Owen, who seems to have found a way to enter his dreams. Andre Morrell (Bridge on the River Kwai) plays Mountdrago's baffled psychiatrist. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Robert Beatty stars in this rapid-fire British programmer as an innocent bystander mixed up with drug smugglers. When things look darkest, Beatty is helped out by femme fatale Elizabeth Sellars. The smugglers are routed, and the figurative broken horseshoe of the title is mended so far as Beatty is concerned. The film was based on a popular British TV series by Francis Durbridge. Apparently, Broken Horse-Shoe wasn't popular enough to make it into Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide, which contains write-ups on virtually every other British TV show-cum-B picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Fraser is a middle-class Briton jealous of the conspicuous consumption of his next door neighbors (Peter Reynolds, Lana Morris). To show them up, Fraser buys his wife (Eileen Moore) a valuable mink jacket. He goes deeply into debt, then goes deeper still as he borrows to pay for the loan that he's already taken out. Overwhelmed by his creditors, Fraser ends up selling the mink coat to pay for the loan that paid for the loan that paid for the mink coat... A "good beginning", indeed! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Valley of Song perpetuates the British stereotype of Welshmen as pugnacious rubes. The story involves a Welsh valley men's choir, comprised of members with lovely voices and mercurial temperaments. When Handel's Messiah is chosen as the choir's showcase piece, the members squabble over who should be the soloist. Vocal remonstrations nearly lead to physical violence, until the entire Welsh village has been polarized for or against the concertmaster's decision. Valley of Song was based on an oft-produced radio play by Cliff Gordon. Its American title was, appropriately, Men are Children Twice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime melodrama, a young couple moves into a charming rural cottage. There the wife becomes fixated upon the mysterious demise of the earlier occupant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a nurse is accused of murdering the ailing wife of a British lord. Just before the woman died, the nurse had administered a special shot, prepared by the attending physician to the woman. The main reason she stands accused is because she and the lord were former lovers. Later she is tried and much damning evidence is presented against her. Fortunately, the good doctor proves that neither he nor she are guilty of the crime. His evidence results in the capture of the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A mother provides a lousy example for her daughter in this gritty, realistic drama. The mother is a mistress of manipulating the sympathies of others for her own gain. Rather than working, she solicits the sympathy of others. Like her mother, the daughter is equally manipulative and ends up with a rich husband. Her mother decides to go straight and get a real job, but it may be too late for the daughter who forges a check and gets caught. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a married team of private investigators look into the background of a nerve doctor whose patients have been mysteriously dying. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide