Review of Design for Murder

This is an odd little hybrid - a very early production by the Boulting brothers that starts off as a very effective piece of revenge/horror and then spends most of its second half running through various stratagems that attempt to reveal or conceal respectively the contents of the eponymous trunk. The final twist, given the preceding actions of the characters, is really a little too hard to credit, although it's not inherently impossible in the plot; one does get the impression that the script was attempting to milk its thrills for all that it was worth in two mutually incompatible directions.

However, on the whole it's pretty psychologically effective. Manning Whiley does a good job throughout most of the film as the nervy victim/protagonist, while Michael Drake is very good as his casual tormentor. Barbara Everest does well as the managing female who manages to get herself in over her head, and Hay Petrie makes an appearance in one of his many character roles.

And considering that the entire film was shot in twelve days on a low budget, and that it was the first feature-length picture (if barely that, at 50 minutes) that Roy and John Boulting had as yet produced, this is certainly a very promising debut; its favourable critical reception would help lead to the Boultings' first major production "Pastor Hall".