Three Stops to Murder

Having been unable to find a free copy of the last couple of films they've covered, the Internet Archive again came up trumps for this film, that I wanted to watch alongside the "House of Hammer" podcast. Released as "Three Stops to Murder" in the US, the film, from 1953 did enough to keep my attention throughout it's relatively short running time.

Investigator Tom Conway (err... Tom Conway) is called in when his employer has some jewels stolen from the fashion house that they were loaned too. When there is a suggestion that the Jewels previously belonged to a patron of the house and were already stolen, Conway is asked to drop the case by Mr Mercedes (Eric Pohlmann). However, when a model, who has told Conway she had some information for him, dies, he is honour bound to continue to work.

Being able to hold my attention throughout is not something that all these Hammer films have managed, so, the fact that I stayed with this one throughout is testament to how enjoyable it is. A lot of that was probably because it looks like Conway is having a good time with a frothy investigator role, which seems essentially to involve flirting with the models long enough for one of them to tell him what's going on. Nice work if you can get it. No idea why his character is also called Tom Conway though? This is another film directed by Terence Fisher, who directed "The Last Page", "Wings of Danger", "Stolen Face" and "Four-Sided Triangle" for Hammer so far, generally I think I've enjoyed his films, but I'm still wanting to get to the classics Horrors that would follow in a few years. There were a few faces familiar to me from the supporting cast. I have to admit that I didn't spot Roger Delgado, but I did note Richard Wattis, who I recognised from a string of upper-class foil roles, most famously I think in the St Trinian's films.

I would say that it suffers from two problems that many of the Hammer films from this period to, one that the fight scenes are comically bad and also that the ending is so abrupt it's jarring.

On the whole, one of the better efforts I've watched for the podcast though.

I don't think the same Christine Forest from "Monkey Shines" or "Dawn of the dead" was in this unless she was a baby/ infant. Look up the title where it shows cast pics and it shows her husband , who probably would have been old enough to have been in this.

Is this a record? Barely five minutes in and I was already becoming disengaged from this tedious, talky, turkey. Less than an hour later and a suitable get out clause appears to be beckoning. If all concerned had simply signed on the dotted line, we would have been spared a further thirty minutes of this dreck. Yes! Thirty minutes, as in extra time at the end of a drab, dreary, scrappy game between two teams, who inspire little enthusiasm or passion.

It's a jewel theft caper, which soon escalates into a murder case. Enter suave, debonair private investigator, Tom Conway (just as big a pain in the neck for the cops, as he is for the criminals) sporting a top of the range raincoat, with a belt that could circumnavigate his waist twice over and sufficient material in the extravagant collar, sundry flaps, pads and lapels to make another coat.

The fact that Conway is cast as...er...Tom Conway, in itself, indicates the movie's paucity of imagination, flair, purpose, substance and drive, coupled with an arrant failure to grasp the rudiments of building tension and suspense. No!....Don't even ask about excitement.

Even the final, unanticipated plot twist only marginally raises the temperature of this tepid, tiresome yarn. This film contains scenes that some viewers may find about as riveting as watching paint dry.

MEMORABLE MOMENT: Eileen Way's visionary insight on the future of Australian Rock. "He's not a punk. He's a Go Between."

Despite the title it's not a vampire film but a talkative drama set around a fashion house and refers to the colour of a fabric. Tom Conway plays a laconic detective called - guess what? - 'Tom Conway' and apart from the rather petulant looking models the scariest thing is probably Eric Pohlmann's ferocious haircut.

No great analysis needed here...a solid mystery with Tom Conway playing a private detective, ex-FBI, named...Tom Conway! The plot involves a jewel heist in the fashion industry, a crime that eventually grows into two murders. Conway is eventually asked to drop the case, and of course there is no better way to get a movie detective to devote himself to a case then to drop him from it! This was made during the period in the early 50s when Hammer made a number of low-budget mystery programmers with American stars such as Dane Clark and Forrest Tucker and Alex Nicol and Tom Conway (although we yanks think of him as British because of the accent, any time I see a British reference to him, he's called "american star Tom Conway," no doubt because his film success was here in the US). This one is a solid piece of work, which plays much like a 50s crime TV show. By this time Conway could play a detective in his sleep, and he lends his usual touch of jaded class to the film. The supporting cast is colorful, and as always director Terence Fisher keeps things moving quickly. Recommended to mystery and/or Tom Conway fans. Nothing special or original here otherwise...