Who Was Maddox? (1964) User Reviews

All talk and no action!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 23 November 2017]

Bernard Lee (Superintendent Meredith), Jack Watling (Jack Heath), Suzanne Lloyd (Diane Heath), Finlay Currie (Alec Campbell), Richard Gale (Maddox), James Bree (Reynolds), Dora Reisser (Anne Wilding), Christa Bergmann (Greta), Billy Milton (Chandler), Ivor Salter (White), Michael Stainton (sergeant), Daphne Goddard (Mrs Lever), Dallas Cavell (porter), Diana Reissier (Miss Wilding).

Director: GEOFFREY NETHERCOTT. Screenplay: Roger Marshall. Allegedly based on a story by Edgar Wallace, though in point of fact an original by Mr. Marshall. Photography: James Wilson. Film editor: Derek Holding. Music composed and directed by Bernard Ebbinghouse. "Edgar Wallace" theme music composed by Michael Carr. Art director: John Blezard. Wardrobe: Eileen Welch. Make-up: Bennie Royston. Casting director: Ronald Curtis. Camera operator: G. Massey-Collier. Set continuity: Marjorie Owens. Production manager: Ron Fry. Assistant director: Ted Lewis. Sound editor: Brian Blamey. Sound recording: Sid Rider, Ron Abbott. Producer: Jack Greenwood.

Copyright 1964 by Merton Park Studios. Never theatrically released in the U.S.A. Released in the U.K. through Warner-Pathé/Anglo Amalgamated: 3 August 1964. Australian release through British Empire Films: release date not recorded. 5,577 feet. 62 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Following a jewel robbery at his home, Jack Heath is the victim of what seems to be a hoax by a practical joker. But he is then arrested for murder!

NOTES: No survey of "B" movie attractions would be complete without at least one entry from the British "Edgar Wallace" series. Not that the films were all that well-liked but, receiving a thorough thrashing on double bills, they were actually seen by more picture- goers in England, Ireland and Australia than many a so-called highly-fancied "A" feature.

COMMENT: "Who Was Maddox?" conforms to the formula of the later British "B" entries — all talk and little action, except that this one has absolutely no action at all -- aside from the verbal cut- and-parry of a board meeting (with Finlay Currie in fine form as an irascible chairman) and Bernard Lee playing cat-and-mouse with a couple of suspects.

Still, the cast is capable, and at least some effort has been expended on characterization. Happily, the dialogue has the ring of reality and production values are admirably slick.

Hard to follow plot

[lucyrfisher · 5/10 · 18 June 2018]

1964 was the year of the beehive, and all the female cast members have hairstyles bigger than their heads. The plot meanders about, but enjoy the locations like London zoo, a very 60s rock garden and the usual houseboat on the river. Jack Watling is good as the main character, Jack Heath, who gets a phone call tellling him his boss has been murdered. He turns up only to find the boss alive and well. But then he's murdered later that night, and Heath is accused. Bernard Lee is always worth watching.

Double Murder

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 17 August 2022]

One of the more caustic sixties adaptations of Edgar Wallace, as exemplified by the extremely unprofessional way the police treat the killer after they've finally nailed him.

Wallace had already been dead for over thirty years and this 'updated' version seems also to belong to a vanished era when Finlay Currie was still making films and a magazine retailed for 3d.

The Last of the True Blue Victorians!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 24 December 2019]

...He wasn't but his identity kept you wondering throughout. Jack Watling became a household name with his continuous role through "The Plane Makers" and "The Power Game" but he had such a dry, witty look, I think he may have been quite at home in a Noel Coward play. Here he plays Jack Heath who seems completely lost in the events that enfold him. He and his wife Diane return home to find their place has been ransacked. Jack is "what in the heck just happened" but Diane goes to her bedroom and when she finds her jewels are still there hides them to get the insurance. The reality is she has already sold them in order to pay Maddox, a mysterious blackmailer no one has ever seen.

Suzanne Lloyd was gorgeous as Diane, an ex model who at first seems to know more than anyone. At work Jack seems to be fighting an up hill battle as an executive of a company whose general manager (Finlay Currie) is described as "the last of the Victorians". Jack wants to bring things into the 20th century by liquidation the magazine department as it's losing money - he's also disappointed that during a heated meeting he doesn't get the support of his work friend.

Adding to the confusion Heath gets a call later that night telling him Diane's uncle has been killed but when he rushes over there it is to find him very much alive. Of course that is the only way to put him in the place when the real murder happens later on that night. And here comes Bernard Lee as Chief Constable Meredith who after a heart to heart with Diane realises her actions are those of a scared black mail victim. In the meantime

• who is Maddox and who is that mysterious man trailing her at the zoo -

Who knows???

Routine Edgar Wallace Thriller

[gnok2002 · 4/10 · 20 August 2015]

I'm inserting reviews for films I'v seen that currently lack one, so here goes... Edgar Wallace mystery, not one of the better ones, involves blackmail & murder, fair. Not the most comprehensive of reviews it's true, but I saw it on itv 25th Jul 1983; and would probably have forgotten it a week later not to mind 32 years. The Director made only one other feature, another E.Wallace entry Accidental Death (1963), The only cast names I recognize are Finlay Currie and Bernard Lee; It's a fairly obscure title, there is no official DVD release, but hopefully someone will track it down and write a more informed review.

Who Was Maddox?

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 4 January 2022]

Jack Heath is a company director. One evening as he returns home with his wife an ex-model. Jack finds that their house has been broken into. Some jewellery has been stolen.

Jack works for his wife's uncle's publishing company. Jack has had a dispute with uncle Campbell as Jack believes that his magazine is failing.

One night Jack gets a phone call telling him that uncle Campbell has died. When Jack gets to his house, uncle Campbell is very much alive.

The next morning Jack has been visited by the police telling him that uncle Campbell was murdered. Jack is in the frame.

The mysterious Maddox is a blackmailer who demands money from Jack's wife. Maybe he is setting up Jack?

This is another convoluted Edgar Wallace Mystery but it comes across as so routine and talky. The pace is pedestrian.

There is almost no action save from Bernard Lee's detective tripping a baddie into a river.

The only crime committed here is the slow murder of an hour of the viewer's time.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 29 July 2023]

I've seen a dozen or so of these Edgar Wallace adaptions, cheaply made for neighborhood cinemas and quickly moved to TV as part of a series. Several of these films have dealt with the crime of blackmail, and when that occurs, the result is little action and a ton of exposition, much of which will befuddled the viewer for varying reasons, first for the confusing way all the details of the sordid mess come out, and second for the viewer (in this case me) wondering why the writer would think this would interest anyone.

With a cast lead by Bernard Lee, Jack Watling and Suzanne Lloyd, the blackmail is both of a corporate intrigue and personal nature, and none of these characters are really all that exciting to even want to spend an hour with. There's one scene where an aging big boss (seen with his portrait behind him) is bellowing at his den of yes men, and it's the only memorable scene in the movie, giving a sort of "Executive Suite"/"Patterns"/"The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" feeling, and it's a shame that it's surrounded before and after by some genuinely excruciatingly dull situations. You really never find out anything intriguing about Maddox, and I certainly wouldn't want this lengthened to explain.

Who was Maddox?

[coltras35 · 4/10 · 8 March 2023]

A publisher is nearly framed for murder, but he appears to have been goaded by the blackmailer who has also blackmailed the publisher's wife (Suzanne Lloyd). The trail in discovering the culprit leads to a blackmail plot and some jewel thievery as well. But inspector Meredith is on the case.

Bernard Lee reprises his role of an inspector between his Bond escapades and is his usual reliable self, adding gusto to the proceedings. It's watchable, however the mystery is quite complicated, to the point I had to rewind a few times. It's also quite dull at times, though Lee and Suzanne Lloyd try their best to lift it out of ordinary.