Dead Man's Evidence

Conrad Philips plays the secret agent trying to uncover the reason for the murder of a British spy who's been washed up on a beach near Dublin. Phillips is an uninspiring lead, and like the rest of the cast simply goes through the motions without expending too much energy. The film is far too heavily laden with tedious and polite dialogue, accompanied by a prodigious amount of smoking and drinking in hotels and bars. The lack of action and a convincing dramatic narrative means the film wanders aimlessly from scene to scene with one dimensional characters, who seem to drift in and out without rhyme or reason. The only compensations are the picturesque views of the beaches and the coastal surroundings. This is strictly a low grade 'B' film and a time filler before the main feature.

Secret Agent Conrad Phillips is sent to track down turncoat Ryck Rydon, who's rumored to be in Ireland. When he arrives, there's a corpse on the beach, believed to be Rydon, but he's not sure. While he flirts/interrogates Jane Griffiths, a couple of newshound try to find out the story for their paper.

It's a rather dull spy drama from director Francis Searle, although it does include some nice location shooting by Ken Hodges and a nice twist ending. Everyone seems adequate to the rather boringly written roles, and Phillips is overwrought in this pre-Bond world of spy craft without gadgets. As far too often seems the case in 1960s British dramas, the score by Ken Thorne tries to drum up a sense of excitement that the on-screen action rarely justifies.

Dean Man's Evidence brings with it a fairly broad cast of performers that have the misfortune of having to work with a rather bland and uninspiring script.

The film's location takes place in Ireland and the cinematography does offer the viewer some beautiful vistas that are quite lovely. Even with a weak script the two male leads are unable to elevate the action as they both turn in rather tepid performances. In addition to the beautiful scenery this film does also include some unique locations as well. However, there is far too little in the way of suspense on display in Dead Man's Evidence that would suggest this as a must see.

This is a peculiar thriller which will lead you the wrong way all along. A dead man is washed ashore on the coast of Ireland, and Conrad Phillips is sent over to establish if it is the spy long since believed dead who now really is dead or not. The corpse is too unidentifiable for anyone to be able to identify, but for the case of a ring found on his hand which then is missing. The girl who found the body denies having seen any ring, but then she is upset by finding it has been stolen from her. All these winding threads leading away from the mystery - we actually never learn who the dead man was - serve only to mystify and mislead the audience from any possibility to get on the right track, and Conrad Phillips is most misled of all. There is a conclusion which will take everyone by surprise including Conrad Phillips.

The best thing about this low rent spy film from cheapie director Francis Searle is that it was filmed on location in Ireland, so we get to see some nice rural locations around Dublin instead of the usual studio-bound settings. Conrad Phillips is the erstwhile hero, a spy who is sent to discover the identity of a fellow agent discovered washed up on the beach in Dublin. He soon uncovers a hotbed of intrigue and must piece together the puzzle in order to finish his mission.

DEAD MAN'S EVIDENCE is very much an average film for the genre, hampered by the cheapness of the budget and a slightly plodding feel to the story. Phillips isn't the most exciting of leading men, although he does have one of the loveliest actresses accompanying him: Jane Griffiths, whose early death at the age of 45 remains one of cinema's forgotten minor tragedies. She's fantastic here, really sparkling in her vibrant part. The one place that DEAD MAN'S EVIDENCE is excels is at the ending, which contains a massive twist I didn't see coming, and is very novel for this genre of film-making.