''Colonel March Investigates'' is a 1953 British film directed by

Cy Endfield Cyril Raker Endfield (November 10, 1914 – April 16, 1995) was an American film director, who at times also worked as a writer, theatre director, and inventor. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he worked in the New York theatre in the late 1930s ...

. The film comprises the three pilot episodes of the TV series ''

Colonel March of Scotland Yard ''Colonel March of Scotland Yard'' is a British television series consisting of a single series of 26 episodes first broadcast in the United States from December 1954 to Spring of 1955. The series premiered on British television on 24 September ...

'' that were filmed in 1952, starring

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 pp. 362–365 These episodes were "Hot Money", "Death in the Dressing Room" and "The New Invisible Man". all adaptations of stories from the ''Department of Queer Complaints'' collection by

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and ...

(writing as Carter Dickson). The screenplay was credited to "Leo Davis", disguising the involvement of blacklisted screenwriters

Abraham Polonsky Abraham Lincoln Polonsky (December 5, 1910 – October 26, 1999) was an American film director, screenwriter, essayist and novelist. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Body and Soul'' (1947). The following ...

and

Walter Bernstein Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on communism. Some of his notable works included '' The ...

. The ''Colonel March'' TV series premiered first in the United States from Dec. 1954 to Spring of 1955, with a total of 26 episodes. It was broadcast on television in England in 1955 on

Associated Television ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (TV network), ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on week ...

(ITV London, weekends), on 26 consecutive Saturday evenings from September 24, 1955 until March 17, 1956.

Plot

Colonel March, Head of the Department of Queer Complaints at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

, is an investigator of unusual criminal cases and activities. The film sees him solve a bank robbery, for which an innocent man was framed, and two murders involving complex tricks and disguises.

Cast

as Colonel March * Ewan Roberts as Ames *

Richard Wattis Richard Cameron Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffords ...

as Cabot * John Hewer as John Parrish *

Sheila Burrell Sheila Mary Burrell (9 May 1922 – 19 July 2011) was a British actress. A cousin of Laurence Olivier, she was born in Blackheath, London, the daughter of a salesman. She attended St John's, Bexhill-on-Sea and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dra ...

as Joan Forsythe *

Anthony Forwood Ernest Lytton Leslie Forwood (3 October 1915 – 18 May 1988), known professionally as Anthony Forwood, was an English actor. Early life Ernest Lytton Leslie Forwood was born on 3 October 1915 in Weymouth, Dorset. The Forwood family were landed ...

as Jim Hartley * Patricia Owens as Betty Hartley *

Ronald Leigh-Hunt Ronald Frederick Leigh-Hunt (5 October 1920 – 12 September 2005) was a British film and television actor. His father was a stockbroker and he attended the Italia Conti Academy. He began acting whilst serving in the army. Though never a majo ...

as Mr. Bowlder *

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress and comedienne, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for ...

as Marjorie Dawson

Production

Boris Karloff and his wife Evelyn sailed to England in July, 1952, where Karloff filmed three different pilot episodes of the Colonel March series to show to British TV executives. In 1953, when the show was green lighted, Karloff returned to England to film 23 more episodes, making a total of 26 in all, then returned to Hollywood to film '' Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1953). The three pilots were later compiled into the 1953 feature film called ''Colonel March Investigates'' (aka ''Colonel March of Scotland Yard''), so that they could be shown theatrically. Karloff filmed bits of onscreen narration to help unite the three stories and these scenes are exclusive to the compilation film only.

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: "These three 'gimmicky' little stories have the appearance of being aimed as much at television as at the cinema market. The tricks on which they principally rely are likely to become obvious to the audience rather before the solutions are propounded by Boris Karloff, an old-style mystery man with black eye-patch, sword-stick umbrella and unremittingly suave manner. Cyril Endfield, director of '' The Sound of Fur''y, brings a certain slickness to the commonplace material, notably in the first story." ''

Kine Weekly ''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971. Etymology The word Kinematograph was derived from the Greek ' Kinumai ', (to move, to be in motion, to ...

'' wrote: "None of the tales is particularly exciting or thrilling, but Boris Karloff, shrewdly cast in the lead, adequately preserves continuity and furnishes essential colour. ... but its subjects, although adequately acted and generously staged, are wildly extravagant and bulk presentation stresses their theatricality. Yet, despite its shortcomings, the show as a whole is not entirely lacking in variety or surprise and these qualities, strengthened by the resourceful teamwork of Boris Karloff and Ewan Roberts, as Ames, should just get its disconnected jottings over with the hoi polloi." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' wrote, "the scripts are nothing special, but Karloff is a joy to watch, as usual."

References

External links

* {{Cy Endfield 1955 films 1955 crime drama films British crime drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films British black-and-white films English-language crime drama films