Grand National Night

Nigel Patrick stars with Moira Lister in The Wicked Wife from 1953.

Patrick plays Gerald Coates, a wealthy horse breeder whose horse wins the Grand National. His wife Babs (Lister) is an unhappy drunk. Her driver's license has been revoked, but after a row with a drunken friend in Liverpool, she drives home in bad weather. Her husband is furious. They quarrel; she falls and dies.

Her body is found in the car in Liverpool. The police see that the car drove 44 miles - meaning to them that she drove 22 miles home from Liverpool. Gerald denies she ever returned.

Good movie as Gerald tries to have savior faire in the face of evidence - her shoes, her compact from her evening bag found in the couch, and, most devastating, a train ticket from the husband's macintosh pocket showing he returned from Liverpool that night despite saying he was home.

Nice twist at the end. Entertaining.

This is a nifty little movie that surprised me, having come to it without great expectations. It centers about a racehorse owner and his playgirl type wife who doesn't even like horses. The Grand National for those that don't know is probably the worlds most famous steeplechase type race which is held every year at Aintree near Liverpool.Its a very demanding race bringing great kudos to the winner. The marriage of the principals and the wife storms off to a party on Grand National night and what develops from then on is a more than decent thriller with a couple of slick twists. It has a rather unexpected ending for its time, and is well worth watching if you get the chance.

Found this little gem when browsing for this type of film (British B films) on Amazon.

Nigel Patrick plays a very decent sort, he's a racehorse trainer who happened to train the grand National winner. Moira Lister who looks absolutely gorgeous plays his unfaithful drunken wife.

The plot revolves around what happened after the horse wins the big race, when the wife provokes her husband, character name Gerald Coates so much he does her in. Foolishly as per normal he tries to get away with it instead of coming clean and claiming self defence of course this backfires and a murder investigation begins lead by a tenacious detective from the yard played by the excellent Michael Hordern.

All in a all a very enjoyable thriller with a fine ending

Many films clearly betray their stage origin. Here most action involves people entering and leaving the same room. However the strength of the story is the tension between the characters as they stand in close proximity which a stage version would have amplified, this film version largely dissipates with its many outside scenes. Also the flat footed direction short changes a good cast and reasonable story. Hitchcock would surely have added red herrings and more visual drama - close-ups, silences, glances and deliberate mis-direction. Hitchcocks "Rope" as one example. It was also, for 1953, rather old fashioned with horsey people, country house and butler (the butler didn't do it but plays a major and interesting role. Doubt if you can get such staff these days unfortunately) It occurred to me that the play could make a good Am-Dram project? 6.5/10

An enjoyably twisty thriller set in the usual country mansion in which the event described in most plot synopses doesn't even happen on camera, loyalties and assumptions constantly shift and detective Michael Hordern is thwarted at every turn in his attempts to nail Nigel Patrick.

Among the supporting cast Gibb McLaughlin is given more to do than we're accustomed to; and Betty Ann Davies is startlingly made a platinum blonde the better to resemble Moira Lister's sister.