The Black Glove

Alex Nicoll is an American jazz trumpeter playing London with his band to happy audiences. After an exhausting show, he begs off a party arranged by his manager, John Salew; he needs sleep. He is distracted from this purpose by gorgeous singer Ann Hanslip. After a spaghetti dinner in her apartment, he heads off to get that sleep, only to be woken by the police. Miss Hanslip is dead, murdered, and he is a person of interest. As is usual in the movie world, he figures he has to clear himself, and starts to investigate.

That movie cliche aside, this is a fine movie. Although I don't have the high opinion of director Terence Fisher that others have, this is a superior movie, thanks in part to DP Walter J. Harvey's crisp lighting, but also a nice handling of the jazz world that Nicoll moves through. Add in a score by Kenny Baker -- the British trumpeter, cornetist, and flugelhorn player -- who also does the trumpet playing doubled by Nicoll, and you have a movie that is an enthralling proof that Fisher was actually a very talented director.