''Man Detained'' is a 1961 British second feature ('B')

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by Robert Tronson and starring

Bernard Archard Bernard Joseph Archard (20 August 1916 – 1 May 2008) was an English actor who made many film and television appearances. Early life and career Archard was born in Fulham, London, where his father Alfred James Aloysius, who was born in Maryle ...

Elvi Hale Patricia Elvira Hake (29 January 1931 – 1 March 2025), known as Elvi Hale, was a British actress. She played Anne of Cleves in '' The Six Wives of Henry VIII'', broadcast in 1970. Life and career Hake was born on 29 January 1931, in Romford ...

and

Paul Stassino Phaedros Stassinos (1930 – 28 June 2012) was a Greek Cypriot actor whose international stage name was Paul Stassino. Early life Stassino was born in Platres and grew up in nearby Limassol, but spent most of his acting career in England. He h ...

. The screenplay was by

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...

, based on the 1916

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 ...

novel '' A Debt Discharged''. It is part of the 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 ...

from 1960 to 1965.

Plot

Frank Murray breaks into the office safe of photographer Thomas Maple. Maple hushes up the fact that £10,000 was taken. When Murray is arrested the police find that the stolen money is counterfeit. Maple is murdered by crime boss James Helder, who had been having an affair with Maple's wife Stella, whom he then abandons. Seeking revenge, Stella alerts Detective Inspector Verity. Helder kidnaps Maple's secretary Kay Simpson because she knows too much. Verity arrests Helder and rescues Kay.

Cast

as Detective Inspector Verity *

as Kay Simpson *

as James Helder * Michael Coles as Frank Murray * Ann Sears as Stella Maple * Victor Platt as Thomas Maple *

Patrick Jordan Albert Patrick Jordan (10 October 1923 – 10 January 2020) was a British stage, film and television actor. Biography He was born and raised in Harrow, Middlesex, the son of Margaret, a cook, and Albert Jordan, a regimental sergeant major. An ...

as Brand * Clifford Earl as Detective Sergeant Wentworth * Gerald Lawson as old man * Jean Aubrey as Gillian Murray * Gareth Davies as police constable

Production

The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Peter Mullins.

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: "Taut and vivid addition to the Edgar Wallace series, coolly played by Elvi Hale as the secretary who is a bit too clever for her own good. There are few surprises, but the presentation is quite sound and the thing bowls along at a smart pace."

References

External links

* 1961 films British crime films 1961 crime films Films set in England Merton Park Studios films Films directed by Robert Tronson Films based on British novels Edgar Wallace Mysteries 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language crime films {{1960s-UK-film-stub