Trent's Last Case

Michael Wilding takes up "Trent's Last Case" in this 1952 film directed by Herbert Wilcox for Republic Studios. It's British with a British cast that includes Margaret Lockwood, John McCallum, Hugh McDermott, and one American, Orson Welles, who was probably trying to raise money for a project.

Trent is an artist and also an amateur detective. He gets involved in the suicide of a wealthy man named Manderson, but as he investigates, it looks more and more like murder. One suspect stands out, but how to prove it?

Unlike many detectives in books and movies, Trent is fallible. This is a neat mystery with a few red herrings. I don't agree that it was dull; I think the story itself keeps the film going, as well as the attractive Michael Wilding. Wilding falls in with many of those tall, good-looking British actors from the '50s - Robert Flemying, Michael Rennie, etc., and probably wouldn't be well known here if he hadn't married Elizabeth Taylor. Nevertheless, he was quite urbane with a great voice and acquits himself well as Trent. Margaret Lockwood is lovely as the victim's widow, and she keeps you guessing.

Not as bad as some reviewers claim. Maybe not as good either, but I enjoyed it. Orson Welles apparently had an obsession with using fake noses on his characters. It's really obvious in profile.

MICHAEL WILDING is an armchair detective who sets out to determine whether or not the death of ORSON WELLES was suicide or murder. He thinks he's solved the case, only to learn that all is not what it appears (without giving the outcome away).

Unfortunately, the script is a dreary, talky and ponderous, making the film appear to be an amateurish stage play, although based on a novel. It's static. Nothing at all cinematic about the approach, nor is there any imagination in the directing.

Of all the players, MARGARET LOCKWOOD as the beautiful wife of the deceased man and JOHN McCALLUM as the man's secretary have key roles that they play with assurance. ORSON WELLES, with fake nose and bushy brows, might as well have been from another film. His ten or fifteen minutes of time on screen renders nothing but ham. Director Herbert Wilcox was evidently unable to tone him down and as a result his key scenes throw the film off stride. MICHAEL WILDING has a colorless role as the newspaper reporter who suspects foul play but can't prove anything.

With a talky script and lack of any cinematic touches, TRENT'S LAST CASE goes nowhere fast and leaves the viewer expecting a strong twist that never arrives--instead, a flat ending.

Production values are fine even though the film comes from the usually low-budget Republic studios.

I failed to notice that Orson Welles was in this film (recently screened by Talking Pictures TV), and when he appeared I wondered why the actor was impersonating Welles under a load of truly horrible makeup. However, Orson's talent shines through, especially in the car scene.

Kenneth Williams appears briefly - finding the body, and giving evidence at the inquest - in a Welsh accent! He was of Welsh descent, but was a true Cockney: there's a plaque on his parent's home in Marchmont Street. A small touch heralds his future brilliance: as the camera pans over the impassive witnesses, he gives one twitch of the cheek.

Margaret Lockwood is beautiful and enigmatic, and her servants (butler Martin and secretary Marlow) are characterful and convincing. Her wardrobe is fabulous. This was the era of the "New Look", which so often translated as the new frumpy. It consciously looked back to the eighteen-forties and fifties. As Lockwood sits in a box at a concert she looks straight out of the 1850s. The pianist, Eileen Joyce, plays Mozart in a train that covers most of the stage.

Philip Trent's art is not too bad - I wonder who did the prop drawings?

Agatha Christie considered this intrigue one of the best ever written, and it certainly is. The mystery is deep here, and as it gradually is unravelled you are in for any number of surprises. The actors are outstanding, with Michael Wilding as the detective intruding on the private lives of the young widow Margaret Lockwood and the man who loves her, who is the prime suspect, while Orson Welles as the victim provides an impressing finale as he enters in the final flashback. Miles Malleson plays an important part as a reluctant participant in the plot, while the story is what really matters. Herbert Wilcox' direction is faultless but very formal, giving the film a somewhat conventional character - there is no cinematography to speak of, while music plays an important part - Eileen Joyce has a moment as a performing pianist, and the film score is by Anthony Collins, who is also seen acting as a conductor - one of his rare appearances on film. After having reached the end of the story, and Michael Wilding closing his last case as Trent, yuo just have to agree with Agatha Christie about the marvellous windings of this plot.

Unlike the other reviewers above, I enjoyed this film immensely, probably because I am a Margaret Lockwood fan and collect as many of her films as I can when they are available.This one is not commercially available but I managed to find a dealer on Ebay who specialises in the older films I like.The other reviewers mention it is too "talky" but this is not supposed to be "Die Hard" or even a James Bond adventure.It is a cultured British film, from Republic films, from 1952 with an excellent cast who speak with wonderful diction and enunciation before "kitchen sink drama" mesmerised film producers.Herbert Wilcox (Anna Neagle's husband) produced this gripping thriller that keeps you guessing right up to the very end.I will concede that the plot is at times a bit like an amateur dramatic society but this gives it its intrinsic charm especially when the principal parts are played by good professional actors.An example is Orson Wells sitting in an armchair and filmed from the rear redolent of a James Bond villain.He only needed to be stroking a white cat on his lap!! Michael Wilding plays his usual debonair self as "Philip Trent" the artistic crime reporter.Margaret Lockwood plays again the pianoforte (see my critique of "Love Story" (1944) when she played Lissa Campbell),This time we have the pleasure of listening to Eileen Joyce (the real pianist) playing the famous Mozart piano concerto no:24 in C minor, larghetto movement.Eileen's other famous film credit was playing the Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto in C minor for "Brief Encounter (1945).Orson as mentioned was fond of Shakespeare's "Othello" and some of this plot is worked into this film.Like "The Third Man" (1949), Orson does not appear until late into the film but he immediately makes his not inconsiderable presence felt as "Sigsbee Manderson".Margaret plays Margaret Manderson his wife.No trouble remembering her name by the cast!John McCallum gives a workmanlike performance as John Marlowe, the secretary to Manderson and Miles Malleson for once leaves aside his clerical garb to play Burton Cupples, Margaret's uncle.What amused me was seeing a very young Kenneth Williams playing a garrulous Welsh gardener! You would only see this film if you you actively set out to acquire it since it never appears on the the TV and as I said is not commercially available.Obviously being a thriller I will not divulge the plot.Suffice to say it ends happily for all concerned.I rated it 8/10. Since I wrote this critique in July 2007 this title is now commercially available from www.silversirens.co.uk Enjoy!