Rogue's Yarn

ROGUE'S YARN is an intriguing little murder mystery, shot in Brighton by director Vernon Sewell and featuring his famous yacht that had previously appeared in the likes of GHOST SHIP alongside many other productions. As some other reviewers on here have noted, the structure of the film and the content make it feel very much like a COLUMBO episode, with the murderer introduced to the viewer at the outset.

The dashing Derek Bond plays an adulterous husband who plots to bump off his invalid wife with the help of his mistress. All goes according to plan, until a dogged detective shows up and threatens exposure. What follows is a fun police procedural movie, with a lot of screen time spent on the unravelling of a perfect alibi.

The unknown Elwyn Brook-Jones stars as the detective, with the familiar Hugh Latimer in comic relief support as his sergeant. I wasn't familiar with Brook-Jones before this film, but the Roy Kinnear lookalike does a good job at bringing his working class character to life. He makes Walker both a realistic and likable presence. Although ROGUE'S YARN is undoubtedly a B-movie in terms of budget and narrative, Sewell is one of those directors with the capability to make any film look good and there's a great suspense sequence involving a leaking gas tap.