An actor called Bill Kenton (James Ellis) is seriously injured after he intervened to try and stop a raid on a jewellery store. On returning to the theatre he discovers that he can no longer remember his lines and has to take an enforced break from his profession. He becomes obsessed with finding the thieves and getting revenge. One day when he is in a pub with his girlfriend Bridget (Isobel Black) he spots a young couple at the bar and recognises the man, a successful businessman and entrepreneur called Mark Godfrey (Keith Barron), as the robber at the jewellery store. Kenton asks the owner of the shop (John Boxer) if he recognises him, but he cannot and the police say that they cannot act without any evidence. Convinced that Godfrey is his man, Kenton starts goading him beyond endurance and this finally culminates in a rendezvous between them and Godfrey's fiancée Laura (Alexandra Bastedo) at the luxury house he is having built. Godfrey offers Kenton £1000 to get him off his back, but in reality he has tipped off the police who arrive right on cue and arrest him for obtaining money with menaces. At the trial, it looks as if Kenton may end up with egg on his face and be facing a jail term, but a bizarre twist of fate occurs and changes everything. Is 'The Haunted Man' about to be proved right?
Another enjoyable short, sharp and snappy entry in this series of 30-minute featurettes made by Anglo Amalgamated as support features in cinemas. Director Stanley Willis sustains the suspense aspect in James Eastwood's script throughout and what did eventually happen as a result of the game and cat and mouse between Keith Barron and James Ellis wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I thought that maybe as a result of the beating he took in the raid Kenton had become paranoid and was perhaps harassing a perfectly innocent man. His behaviour at the start certainly suggested it where, much to Bridget's concern, he was forever staring at random people in the street and thinking that they were all his assailant until he approached them and finally realised his mistakes and having to apologise making a fool of himself. I also thought that perhaps Godfrey is the man, but the judge and jury might think Kenton to be mad and have him certified while he walks off scot free thus humiliating him for a second time. Without spoiling it for you, I shall confine myself to say that the solution (and it is quite a satisfying one that allows a film of this size to pack quite a punch) centres around a plain and simple fact of life where somebody just happens to be in the right place at the right time and notices that tiny little detail that gives someone or another away. And, sometimes, the smallest and most obvious details are the most well concealed too.
The technical credits and the acting are all up to par, and aside from Keith Barron and James Ellis, the other instantly recognisable face is The Champions' Alexandra Bastedo in a small part before she became famous in that popular 1960's fantasy series.
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