*Caution - Very large spoilers contained in the plot synopsis.
Supt Duggan (Russell Napier) of the Yard is called to a rock quarry in the picturesque South Downs village of Hillfield where the works foreman, the polish immigrant Josef Cusick, has been killed in what appears to have been an accident with explosives whilst he was blasting. However, the Home Office pathologist (Lloyd Lamble) carries out an autopsy and finds that he had been drugged, which means it is now a murder investigation. Initially, the second foreman at the quarry, Fenton (Mark Bellamy), is the chief suspect, but Duggan is soon called to the headquarters of MI5 where he is told that Cusick was wanted as a spy working for the Iron Curtain. The plot thickens when an American businessman called Viner (Bill Nagy) is reported missing from his London hotel - and guess what? - Viner is a neutralised American citizen, originally from Poland, and he had escaped from Poland with Cusick. A national manhunt is initiated for Viner and his car is spotted by police in the Sussex countryside, abandoned. A set of fingerprints found in it are not his, however, and are identified as Cusick's. Supt. Duggan realises that Cusick must have rebelled against his own country and Viner, a fellow spy, came to Britain on orders to kill him. But, Cusick had been too quick for Viner, killed him and dressed him in his own clothes before setting off the explosion in the quarry, which made the body unrecognisable so that the police would assume that it was he who had died. Cusick's devoted wife (Marianne Stone) is picked up at Amberley railway station, but it is too late because Cusick has escaped in an aeroplane at a nearby airfield. However, the plane ran out of fuel and came down in the sea and, as for Cusick, he was picked up by a Polish freighter bound for his native country and was never seen again...
This neat, compact and fun crime featurette, made as part of the Scotland Yard series, received glowing reviews on its original release like so many of the others did. It is notable because it features Marianne Stone, a well-known British character actress who often played working class roles such as barmaids, landladies and secretaries in scores of films and was a mainstay of the Carry On series, in a rare leading role as the devoted wife of an Eastern spy who rebelled against his government and, in consequence, was wanted by MI5 in spite of that and marked for death by his own government. In other words he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. She plays her part really well providing the emotional element to the story and invoking a real depth of feeling. For a film of its minute size, it manages to make an impact upon the audience; its twists and turns play fair with the audience and the denouement will come as quite unexpected to the audience. The film's rural location is used to great effect and the atmospheric b/w lighting of Philip Grindrod and Arthur Lavis (two very fine cameramen) ensures that the tranquil beauty of the place serves to heighten the atmosphere of the mysteriousness. The very able direction is again by Montgomery Tully.
Supt Duggan (Russell Napier) of the Yard is called to a rock quarry in the picturesque South Downs village of Hillfield where the works foreman, the polish immigrant Josef Cusick, has been killed in what appears to have been an accident with explosives whilst he was blasting. However, the Home Office pathologist (Lloyd Lamble) carries out an autopsy and finds that he had been drugged, which means it is now a murder investigation. Initially, the second foreman at the quarry, Fenton (Mark Bellamy), is the chief suspect, but Duggan is soon called to the headquarters of MI5 where he is told that Cusick was wanted as a spy working for the Iron Curtain. The plot thickens when an American businessman called Viner (Bill Nagy) is reported missing from his London hotel - and guess what? - Viner is a neutralised American citizen, originally from Poland, and he had escaped from Poland with Cusick. A national manhunt is initiated for Viner and his car is spotted by police in the Sussex countryside, abandoned. A set of fingerprints found in it are not his, however, and are identified as Cusick's. Supt. Duggan realises that Cusick must have rebelled against his own country and Viner, a fellow spy, came to Britain on orders to kill him. But, Cusick had been too quick for Viner, killed him and dressed him in his own clothes before setting off the explosion in the quarry, which made the body unrecognisable so that the police would assume that it was he who had died. Cusick's devoted wife (Marianne Stone) is picked up at Amberley railway station, but it is too late because Cusick has escaped in an aeroplane at a nearby airfield. However, the plane ran out of fuel and came down in the sea and, as for Cusick, he was picked up by a Polish freighter bound for his native country and was never seen again...
This neat, compact and fun crime featurette, made as part of the Scotland Yard series, received glowing reviews on its original release like so many of the others did. It is notable because it features Marianne Stone, a well-known British character actress who often played working class roles such as barmaids, landladies and secretaries in scores of films and was a mainstay of the Carry On series, in a rare leading role as the devoted wife of an Eastern spy who rebelled against his government and, in consequence, was wanted by MI5 in spite of that and marked for death by his own government. In other words he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. She plays her part really well providing the emotional element to the story and invoking a real depth of feeling. For a film of its minute size, it manages to make an impact upon the audience; its twists and turns play fair with the audience and the denouement will come as quite unexpected to the audience. The film's rural location is used to great effect and the atmospheric b/w lighting of Philip Grindrod and Arthur Lavis (two very fine cameramen) ensures that the tranquil beauty of the place serves to heighten the atmosphere of the mysteriousness. The very able direction is again by Montgomery Tully.