Edgar Wallace Movies
- 1964
Downfall is yet another hour-long entry in the seemingly endless series of British-filmed Edgar Wallace mysteries. Maurice Denham plays a brilliant attorney who arranges an acquittal for murderer T.P. McKenna. It's all part of Denham's master scheme to divest himself of his wife (Nadja Regan). Denham hires McKenna as his chauffeur, then blackmails the poor bloke into murdering the wife. Downfall was the 22nd entry in Merton Park's Edgar Wallace series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
The innocuous title We Shall See obscures the fact that this British melodrama is perhaps the earliest "killer bee" effort. The film gets under way when Alva Collins (Faith Brook), the mentally unbalanced wife of airline pilot Evan Collins (Maurice Kaufmann), is subjected to the stings of thousands of bees. Whoever was responsible for this knew full well that Alva was allergic to the tiny scourges, thus suspicion immediately falls upon her husband. After this lively opening, the film settles down to business as Scotland Yard searches for the bee-happy assailant. We Shall See was one of several 1960s British programmers produced by Merton Park Productions and based on the works of suspense novelist Edgar Wallace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this crime drama a Yankee visiting England ends up arrested for murder. Not wanting to go to prison, he tries to convince his partner into rigging the jury. Unfortunately for him, the partner double-crosses him and justice is served. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this crime drama, a rivalry within a publishing house turns deadly when theft and blackmail get involved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
When Vince Howard is released from prison, he impersonates his cellmate (still in prison) and goes to live with his cellmate's wife, who is blind, in the hopes of learning where money from a robbery has been hidden. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1964
A surgeon seeks his revenge on his unfaithful wife's lover by convincing him that he must have a deadly heart operation. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this medical drama, a doctor loses his medical license after his addiction to drugs is discovered. Trouble ensues when he sees an ex-Nazi who is secretly leading the local drug ring. The police get wind of the operation and destroy it. The Nazi is killed too. Meanwhile the doctor overcomes his addiction and regains his license. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
This crime thriller contains enough comedy and blood to interest almost any movie fan. Shady underworld thugs gather in a seedy Soho hotel in Room 13 to plan a train robbery. They plan to rendezvous in the mansion of a member of Parliament who is being blackmailed for his ties to the gang 20 years earlier. Simultaneously, a mysterious slasher is murdering women with a straight razor. Jonny Gray (Joachim Fuschberger) is the detective who is called on to solve the robbery and the murders. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, (more)
- 1963
This quirky crime thriller stars Hansjörg Felmy as an intrepid Scotland Yard inspector tackling two seemingly disparate cases. He is officially assigned to investigate an underground society of vigilantes who take the law into their own hands, trying criminals in their own "Star Chamber"-style kangaroo court. On his own initiative, he is also pursuing a serial sex-killer who decapitates his victims. Felmy's dogged devotion to this case turns out to be personal, since his sister was among the killer's victims. The vendetta eclipses all other concerns, as the inspector even uses his own fiancee (Maria Perschy) as bait to trap the madman -- who suddenly falls into the clutches of the hooded vigilantes and is whisked away for a speedy trial. No prizes will be issued to viewers who guess the identity of the judge. This German production was also released as The Mad Executioners. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Curse of the Yellow Snake is a riproaring entry in Germany's series of low-budget films based on the works of Edgar Wallace. This time the filmmakers have borrowed a page from "Fu Manchu" creator Sax Rohmer, spinning a yarn about an Oriental cult's revolt against the white race. The names in the cast list are decidedly Teutonic, indicating that the "orientals" seen throughout are literally skin-deep. Heading the cast is Jochim Fuchsberger, a regular participant in the German Edgar Wallace series. Curse of the Yellow Snake establishes mood and tension early on, seldom letting up throughout its 98 minutes (much longer than usual for a Wallace film). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The most carefully laid plans of mice and crooks.... A gang of criminals plots the robbery of a bookmaking joint. Unfortunately, on the day of the heist, things go haywire and tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The Set-Up was another in the long-running British second-feature series based on the works of Edgar Wallace. Maurice Denham plays a businessman who blackmails ex-con Brian Peck into committing a robbery. Peck is told to break into Denham's house and steal some valuable jewels so that the businessman can collect the insurance. But when Peck arrives at the crime scene, he comes across the body of Denham's wife--and is promptly accused of the murder. Inspector Jackson (John Carson) is the dogged detective who unravels the insidious plot woven by the crafty Denham. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Based on a novel by Edgar Wallace, this crime drama centers on two car thieves who inadvertently interfere with a kidnapping when they steal the vehicle that contains the ransom for the daughter of a Swedish tycoon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
In this drama, a business magnate is caught cutting shady deals by a DA. For revenge, the evil industrialist hires a thug to destroy the lawyer's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Attempts to Kill is a sprightly 57-minute entry in Merton Park Productions' "Edgar Wallace Mysteries" series. Derek Farr stars as Scotland Yard inspector Minter, on the trail of a ruthless gang of confidence tricksters. The scam artists' latest target is a London businessman, whom they plan to kill if he doesn't fork over his dough. Halfway through, the film becomes a bit talk-heavy, but the action-packed finale makes up for this. Attempts to Kill is based on Edgar Wallace's The Lone House Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
In this suspense film, two heirs visit the isolated estate of their benefactor and find themselves hunted by a strangler with an Indian scarf. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The German The Squeaker is the third film version of the Edgar Wallace mystery novel of the same name. The title character is an omnipotent "fence" who has cornered the diamond-smuggling racket. The fence travels in polite society under the guise of a wealthy philanthropist. A Scotland Yard detective pretends to be an ex-convict in order to infiltrate the Squeaker's gang and to track down the stolen gems. The Squeaker was one of several German Edgar Wallace adaptations of the 1960s, ground out simultaneously with Britain's long-running Wallace B-picture series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinz Drache, Barbara Rutting, (more)
- 1963
Death Drums Along the River was the come-on American title for this 1963 remake of 1935's Sanders of the River. Both films were loosely based on a very popular Edgar Wallace novel. Richard Todd assumes the leading role of Harry Sanders (originally R. G. Sanders), a British police investigator working in Africa. While counting the clues in a hospital murder case, Sanders is led to hidden diamond mine. The patronizing racial attitudes prevalent in the first Sanders of the River have been muted and altered out of respect for the ever-changing Africa of the 1960s. Sanders did well enough to inspire a 1964 sequel, Coast of Skeletons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
20,000 Pound Kiss was the 45th of 47 British second features based on the works of Edgar Wallace, all released between 1960 and 1963. The film jams quite a lot of plot into its 57 minutes, starting off with an extortion scheme. A man of limited means is told to ante up 20,000 pounds or face public exposure as a philanderer. Murder inevitably follows. 20,000 Pound Kiss was filmed at the Merton Park headquarters of producer Jack Greenwood; its release in America was confined to a TV package titled The Edgar Wallace Mysteries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
When a private eye cannot convince the police to investigate the murder of his boss, he takes up the case complete with missing bodies, strange papers and safety deposit box. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1963
In this mystery, two friends go to Africa, but only one returns. That one, believing his partner dead, assumes his pal's identity in hope of getting his inheritance. Meanwhile, back in Africa, the true heir survives. He is paralyzed from the waist down, and suffers amnesia, but he lives. A lady friend returns him to England. When the imposter discovers that the heir is still alive, he plots his death. Unfortunately, it is he who is killed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
A police detective succumbs to a seductive beauty who convinces him to help murder her husband so she can collect on his insurance policy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Another of the long-running Merton Park "Edgar Wallace" series, the plot of the British Accidental Death is motivated by revenge. Someone wants to kill the male "protector" of toothsome Jacqueline Ellis in retribution for crimes against society committed during the war. Director George Nethercott stages the film from the mysterious murderer's point of view, allowing us to follow each step of his (or her?) meticulously plotted scheme. The crime is staged to look like an accident, but the truth will come out, as it always does. Accidental Death was based on Edgar Wallace's story "Jack O' Judgement." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
This mystery is based on an Edgar Wallace tale and centers upon an enigmatic, seemingly supernatural abbot who lives in a tower connected to an abandoned old country manse said to contain a fabulous treasure. It is the black-hooded monk's duty to keep thieves at bay. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this mystery, a real estate agent begins looking for a jewel thief's stashed loot. He must find it before the robber's widow and other criminals find it first. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
