''The Diplomatic Corpse'' is a 1958 British

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 ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Montgomery Tully Montgomery Tully (6 May 190410 October 1988) was an Irish film Film director, director and writer. Film career Born in Dublin, Tully studied at the University of London, and originally entered the film industry as a director of documentaries. ...

and starring

Robin Bailey William Henry Mettam "Robin" Bailey (5 October 1919 – 14 January 1999) was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. Often cast in upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Mr Justice Graves in Thames Television Th ...

Susan Shaw Susan Shaw (29 August 192927 November 1978; born Patricia Gwendoline Sloots) was an English actress. Early life Shaw was born Patricia Gwendoline Sloots on 29 August 1929 in West Norwood, London, to Edward John Sloots and Lillian Rose Lewis. S ...

and

Liam Redmond Liam Redmond (27 July 1913 – 28 October 1989) was an Irish character actor known for his stage, film and television roles. Early life Redmond was one of four children born to cabinet-maker Thomas and Eileen Redmond. Educated at the Christi ...

. It was written by Maurice Harrison and Sidney Nelson and produced by ACT Films.

Plot

A crime reporter, assisted by his girlfriend, a fashion reporter at the same newspaper, investigates a dead body taken out of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. They are soon able to link it with a foreign embassy, making it a sensitive diplomatic matter.

Cast

as Mike Billings *

as Jenny Drew *

as Inspector Corcoran *

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lambeth, so ...

as Knocker Parsons *

André Mikhelson André Mikhelson was a Russian actor, in mostly British films. He was born in Moscow, in 1903. Selected filmography * ''The Gambler and the Lady'' (1952) - El Greco (uncredited) * ''Desperate Moment'' (1953) - Polizei Inspector * ''Star of My N ...

as Hamid *

Bill Shine William Shine (born July 4, 1963) is a former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications in the First presidency of Donald Trump, first administration of President of the United States, U.S. President Donald Trump. He spent most of his ...

as Humphrey Garrad *

Charles Farrell Charles David Farrell (August 9, 1900 – May 6, 1990) was an American film actor whose height was in the 1920s and 1930s and the Mayor of Palm Springs from 1947 to 1955. Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor ...

as Percy Simpson *

Maya Koumani Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a po ...

as Marian Koumaya * Nicholas Bruce as Karim * Peter Bathurst as Cartwright * John Briggs as Johnny, copy boy * Frank Hawkins as Police Sergeant * George Street as Station Police Sergeant

Production

Producer Francis Searle recalled the film "was a near-disaster. We had cast Ursula Howells; then, at the very last moment, she was taken sick and couldn't appear. I then had to find another artiste quickly. We finished up with Susan Shaw and she was all right." 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 ...

Joseph Bato.

Critical reception

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 ...

'' said "Though mainly naive and sterotyped hokum, lively presentation makes this an entertaining second feature. The 'foreign' voice of Maya Koumani is rather fetching and other less exotic players spirited enough in their way." Chibnall and McFarlane in ''The British 'B' Film'' wrote: "`a pair of sparring reporters (Robin Bailey and Susan Shaw) is meant to be striking sparks of sexual interest, but Bailey in particular is quite lost in this sort of role. ... the characters are thinly written – apart from the uninspiring romantic duo." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Thriller with a sense of humour."

References

External links

* 1958 films British comedy thriller films 1950s comedy thriller films Films set in London Films directed by Montgomery Tully 1958 comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films English-language comedy thriller films {{1950s-UK-comedy-film-stub