robert-temple-1 This is a gloomy British film noir made just after the War, starring Eric Portman as a wronged husband intent upon revenge. He has been away in America for 8 months on business, but during that time he came to realize that his wife was being unfaithful and going around with another man back in London. He returns without notifying her and sets about his meticulously planned campaign of murdering her lover by means of what he calls 'the perfect murder'. The film is based upon a play of the same title by St. John Legh Clowes. It was filmed twice for television, firstly for the BBC in 1949, and secondly in 1957 for the Armchair Theatre series on the ITV network. The playwright turned it into a novel, and that was filmed in 1972 as a German TV movie entitled GELIEBTER MOERDER. It is rather a sinister tale, and I marvel at its popularity. In this first filming of the story, Portman's wife is played by Greta Gynt. She is excellent as a totally narcissistic and faithless femme fatale, of the most disgusting kind. When she is told that a man has committed suicide over her, the camera closes on her face as we see her thrilled and gloating at the news, and she says to herself excitedly: 'He killed himself for me!' Dennis Price, in his best arch and snobbish manner, plays the lover who is murdered by Portman. But Portman discovers that the murder was pointless, because his wife has already dropped Price and taken up with another man played by Maxwell Reed. There are many twists and turns, much duplicity, lying, and deception, and several false stories. Through all of this the study police inspector played by Jack Warner does not believe anybody and knows something is fishy with all their stories. It would all be very fascinating if the people were not all so horrible and the events so very repulsive. Arthur Crabtree did a very good job of directing, and he uses a great deal of darkness in his shots to underline the awful gloom.

Kasper Pone It was going good but then it just gets stupid. Why would he tell his wife what he did?? Why would he keep trying to kill/frame her lovers instead of killing her!! And what a horrible ending!!! How could that ring possibly connect her to the murder? Couldn't the husband have found the ring somehow and dropped it before killing himself? Finding a ring like that would be a good reason to. But I have no clue how that at all incriminates her. Just rubbish, smh.I would also like to point out that I watch a ton of old movies and they almost always have a pretty girl playing the main role. But this lady who plays the wife is anything but attractive. Of course that could be b/c she plays the part of a monster so they didn't want a good looking lady but she didn't have to be that ugly. Now the young girl who plays the sister on the other hand is very pretty. :) In conclusion, this movie is an epic waste of time and "could" have been good had they stopped it at the 32 minute mark.

Alonzo Church Poor Eric Portman is saddled with a habitually unfaithful wife. He decides to commit the perfect crime, and murder the nasty wife's lover (Dennis Price). Problem is, he soon finds out that little woman has yet another lover. What is our poor, DEAR MURDERER going to do now? This is a perfect English mystery movie for those who love English mystery movies. The murderer is rather sympathetic. The crime is charmingly convoluted -- it might even give Sherlock Holmes a few rough moments. And the Scotland Yard detective is like all Scotland Yard detectives (when not co-starring with some brilliant amateur detective) -- smarter than he looks, visiting his quarry constantly with "just a few questions, sir." Those who are more used to American films might think the pace a bit slow (particularly at the beginning), though this pacing really does pay off with an unexpectedly twisty final reel.If you don't really like old movies, this is not for you. But if you remember being happy when you found that the late show you were about to watch was going to be an English mystery, this will be perfect. Note, though, nothing really stands out about this one. It's all crisply enough acted, with a few noir trappings imported from America for the finale. But ultimately , all it is is a jolly good show, best enjoyed with a crackling fire and some mighty good sherry.

calvertfan Very slow moving, but still compelling, worth sticking with till the bitter end, if only to see how it all pans out.Lee finds out his wife is having an affair, so he kills the man, and sets it up to look like a suicide. Only problem is, his wife has stopped having an affair with that man, and moved onto a new affair!Greta Gynt, looking a lot like Gene Tierney, is great, as are Hazel Court and Andrew Crawford, whose parts were unfortunately very small. If you're getting bored, take heed that the movie does pick up an awful lot in the last quarter! 7/10