Rogues` Yarn (1957) - British B Movie - Directed by Vernon Sewell, Screenplay by Vernon Sewell and Ernie Bradford. Starring Nicole Maurey, Derek Bond, Elwyn Brook-Jones
Very nearly didn`t stay with this due to a bout of wildly histrionic over-acting by Nicole Maurey in the early scenes. Fortunately this did not set the tone for the film as a whole.
The film tells the story of a man`s murder of his wife at the behest of his lover. It takes the form of what used to be called an `inverted detective story` , a form invented by writer R A Freeman and popularised by the TV series Columbo, in which the audience learns early on who did it, how and why and the interest lies in the way in which the detective brings him to justice.
While Nicole Maurey and Derek Bond received top billing as the murderous adulterers, undoubtedly it is Elwyn Brooks- Jones as their unflappable and incisive nemesis that is the real star turn.
In places it is like seeing a crime solved by the late J B Priestley as Brooks-Jones` stocky, pipe-smoking Inspector Walker matches his working-class wits with Derek Bond`s suave killer John Marsden.
The glaring weakness that has to be mentioned is the inconsistency of the scripting of Nicole Maureys` character. In the early scenes she is manipulative and unstable, egging her lover on to kill his wife as an alternative to seeking a divorce because that way she can get the dead womans` money as well as her man !
Later in the film, she undergoes a complete character change and is shocked that he is capable of considering a second murder, when she was perfectly happy with the first !
Having said that, I rate this film very highly and would happily see it again.
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