The Case of the Red Monkey

This very British film was a "B" picture given headlines because of the title song which was a massive hit in both the Uk and in the States.

Only read below if you want to know about The little red monkey.

The little red monkey was in fact a very very small/tiny adult russian spy who because of his size could enter small areas thought safe agains five foot plus size humans.

He was only called "The Midget" in the film and he was played by Leonard franks.

This was the basis of the movie.

If you ever get to watch this film, do not expect too much and you will not be disappionted.

The music is freely on line to download from various sites in the UK. Just type in "the little red monkey" into a search engine and up will pop lots of links.

This is a mid-fifties British B picture (aka LITTLE RED MONKEY, the original title, which is on the DVD) for which they brought in the American Richard Conte as a visiting FBI agent, to fetch a Russian scientist defector to America. The script was co-written by Ken Hughes (1922-2001), who also directed it, and whom I knew rather well. Ken was never a highbrow when it came to literature, though his taste in art was good because of his obsession with the paintings of Delvaux, of which he had a gigantic example on his wall above his sofa. (It is now in a national museum somewhere.) I must say, Richard Conte makes just about the least sentimental lover in the history of the cinema. The way he treats the girl who falls in love with him is so rude and inconsiderate that one wonders about his orientation. Never mind. The British police and secret service bungle spectacularly throughout this tale, making mistake after mistake, taking no basic safety or security precautions, and the attempt to look after a major defector is portrayed as an utter farce. A bit too close to real life. It reminds me of the dealings between MI6 and Gaddafi. What is there about the word 'incompetence' that the British security experts do not understand? They presumably have their noses buried too deep in dodgy dossiers, of which there has been a spectacular example recently, something to do with the number 70,000. Hahaha. Well here they go again in this film, letting everybody get killed, with the almost equally hapless Yank finally saving them, more or less by chance. The monkey of the title really exists and climbs up buildings and opens windows for entry by humans to commit dastardly deeds. There are other elements revealed at the end which I shall duly keep top secret, something which no one in the film seems to know the meaning of.

Richard Conte is to film noir what Joel McCrea, Randolph Scott or Audie Murphy are to the Western: reliable lead without ever attaining superstar status. In this film, as ever, Conte delivers a competent performance well backed up by strong direction from Ken Hughes, and a quiet performance of immense quality by Russell Napier, playing the part of Superintendent Harrington in a typical but highly perceptive British stiff upper lip show.

At stake is the Cold War, espionage and the brain drain from the USSR to the USA, with the action happening on British soil. A monkey keeps appearing at murder scenes but in the end it is not the monkey that is icing the scientists. Pity, I have always wanted to see an animal take shots at human beings with cross hairs to even out the contest a little bit.

Lovely Rona Anderson plays the love interest - perhaps a little too eagerly to seem convincing.

Highly professional cinematography by James Ambor. Fair script by Eastwood and Hughes. I enjoyed it well enough to recommend it.

The Burgess, Maclean and Philby spy drama of the early 1950s inspired Merton Park Studios to produce this cold war'B' drama about a midget Russian spy who controls a red monkey and who with his spy colleagues go about bumping off nuclear scientists in Britain.Actor Russell Napier is upgraded from his Scotland Yard inspector role which he performed in the acclaimed Edgar Lustgarten 1950s TV crime series.

Another user review above has written a detailed synopsis of the plot so I won't repeat it.There is a very catchy tune "The Little Red Monkey" played on the organ which was popular at the time and which accompanies this film.Rhona Anderson who plays Russell Napier's niece threw herself I thought too willingly at Richard Conte, the American State Department agent who is helping British security to transport Livchenko to the U.S.to gain political asylum along with his nuclear secrets.At about one hour duration this 'B' movie keeps the attention of the viewer and I awarded it 6/10.

THE CASE OF THE RED MONKEY, aka LITTLE RED MONKEY, is a fun little mix of murder mystery and spy thriller of the 1950s. This is very much a film of its era, complete with a title and theme tune taken from a popular tune of the era and a Cold War backdrop. When nuclear scientists are being murdered in London, it takes a US special agent in the form of Richard Conte to track down the killer. The addition of the monkey to the plot is a novel and offbeat twist, and there's enough disparate elements from action to romance to spy shenanigans and the like to keep it bubbling away merrily from beginning to end.