''Backfire!'' (also known as ''Backfire'') is a 1962

second feature A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, s ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

film directed by

Paul Almond Paul Almond (April 26, 1931 – April 9, 2015) was a Canadian television and motion picture screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is most known for being the director of the first film in the '' Up'' series. Life and career Paul A ...

and starring

Alfred Burke Alfred Burke (28 February 1918 – 16 February 2011) was an English actor who played Frank Marker in the drama series '' Public Eye'', which ran on television for ten years. Early life Born in London's southeast district of Peckham, the son of ...

Zena Marshall Zena Moyra Marshall (1 January 1926 – 10 July 2009) was a British actress of film and television. Early years Marshall was of English, Irish and (on her mother's side) French descent. Though born in Kenya, after her father's death and her ...

and Oliver Johnston. Part of the long-running series of ''

Edgar Wallace Mysteries The ''Edgar Wallace Mysteries'' is a British second-feature film series mainly produced at Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated. There were 48 films in the series, which were released between 1960 and 1965. The series was screened as ''Th ...

'' films made at

Merton Park Studios Merton Park Studios, opened in 1929, was a British film production studio located at Long Lodge, 269 Kingston Road in Merton Park, South London. In the 1940s, it was owned by Piprodia Entertainment, Nikhanj Films and Film Producers Guild. Peter M ...

, it was based on a story by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

Plot

Long-established cosmetics company Venetia Beauty Preparations is in serious financial trouble, having been taken from success to near-ruin by the unscrupulous actions of the devious Mitchell Logan and his wife Pauline, who have inveigled their way to become business partners of the elderly founder Bernard Curzon. Against Curzon's wishes, Logan engages the services of a professional arsonist to burn the factory down, intending to claim on the insurance. But his plan goes horribly wrong.

Cast

as Mitchell Logan *

as Pauline Logan * Oliver Johnston as Bernard Curzon *

Noel Trevarthen Noel Trevarthen was a New Zealand actor who worked largely in England and Australia, active from 1959 to 1999. Trevarthen was first based in England where he starred in '' Riviera Police'' and in extended run of ''Watch It, Sailor'' at the Apo ...

as Jack Bryce *

Suzanne Neve Suzanne Neve (born 6 September 1939) is an English actress. She appeared regularly on British television during the 1960s, including the lead role of Isabel Archer in the BBC's 1968 adaptation of Henry James's ''The Portrait of a Lady'', for wh ...

as Shirley Curzon *

Derek Francis Derek Francis (7 November 1923 – 27 March 1984) was an English comedy and character actor. Biography Francis was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in '' The Tomb of Lig ...

as Arthur Tilsley *

John Cazabon John Forde Cazabon (3 August 1914 – 22 June 1983) was an English actor and stage writer whose career began in Sydney, Australia. History Cazabon was born in Hertford, Hertfordshire, to violinist and composer Albert Cazabon (1883–1970) and N ...

as Willy Kyser *

Madeleine Christie Madeleine Elsie Jane Christie (18 January 1904 – 2 February 1996) was a Scottish actress. Madeleine Christie studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Christie was the mother of actress Amanda Walker, and mother-in-law of P ...

as Hannah Chenko * Claire Neilson as Valentina Chenko (credited as Claire Isbister) *

Frank Hawkins Frank Hawkins, Jr. (born July 3, 1959) is an American former football running back who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders from 1981 to 1987. He is also a former Las Vegas City Counc ...

as Inspector Fletcher *

Donald Eccles Donald Eccles (26 April 1908 – 2 February 1986) was a British character actor. Donald Yarrow Eccles was born in Nafferton, Yorkshire on 26 April 1908 the son of Charles Henry and Constance Eccles; his father was a doctor. Eccles was educated ...

as Hargreaves * Melody O'Brian as Thelma * Edwin Brown as commissionaire * Beresford Williams as nightwatchman *

Bernard Kay Bernard Frederic Bemrose Kay (23 February 1928 – 25 December 2014) was an English actor with an extensive theatre, television, and film repertoire. Early life Kay began his working life as a reporter for the ''Bolton Evening News'', and a s ...

as fire chief *

Philip Ray Philip Ray (born Roy Edgar Cochrane, 1 November 1898 – 11 May 1978) was a British stage, film and television actor. Occasionally credited as Phil Ray, he played numerous and varied supporting roles, particularly in films and on television. He ...

as coroner * Audrey Nicholson as maid in hotel * Terry Bale as van man * Stuart Hutchinson as fireman

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Economical thriller in the Edgar Wallace series, adequately acted and presented."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0042219, Backfire! 1962 films British black-and-white films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films Merton Park Studios films Edgar Wallace Mysteries Films directed by Paul Almond