Jigsaw

I was drawn straight into this film from the opening scenes and I never lost concentration once. Furthermore I didn't manage to guess the final outcome. A very intriguing police investigation and very well acted by all involved. Films of this nature can only be enjoyed once. I am glad I took the time to watch it.

Fast paced and wordy, Jigsaw tells the story of what appears to them to be a baffling murder.

Very much ahead of its time.

As in Dixon of Dock Green, Jack Warner seems too old and lacking in mobility to play a policeman, but he was good in the role and had a lot of machine-gun dialogue.

The film is shot in and around Brighton and features Saltdean and Lewes as well, which is of interest to me as I live in the area.

The film finishes very abruptly and I didn't consider the final piece of the jigsaw as being particularly significant when making a a case.

I did guess the perpetrator, although the person concerned did not really fit the role of a lothario with women swooning over him.

Writer/Director Val Guest had a Long and Varied Career. A Low-Budget Filmmaker that always tried to make His Films look Professional and was Not Afraid to Improvise and Loved Playing with the Tools of Cinema.

His most Successful Films Critically were done for Hammer Studios in the Sci-Fi Genre. Here He made a "Police Procedural" and in the True Definition of the Genre. It is Nothing More than that and that's Exactly what it is and it Never Strays from Format.

What Guest does to make it seem More than that, is the Pacing. It has a Frenetic Style of Rapid Dialog and Quick Moving Scenes. No Passage of Banter or Anything is wasted. It's Economically Energetic and has a Sense of Urgency befitting the Lack of Clues, and the Legwork, and Heavy Lifting needed to Piece Together this "Jigsaw".

The Movie is a bit Long but Never Seems Dull or Boring. Helped by one of England's Actor Icons Jack Warner, who made His Name doing exactly what He is doing here. Solving Crimes on the Telly.

Worth a Watch for Val Guest's Intense Crafting, Jack Warner as an Aging and Cynical Policeman, and for its Crackerjack Plot. You have No Clue throughout what Prize Piece of the Puzzle will Pop Up or When.

This film is based on the real Brighton Trunk murders that occurred in Massachusetts. The setting is changed to Brighton England, which gives the film a special atmosphere.

The film opens with two lovers lying in bed. When her lover awakens, the woman announces that she is pregnant and nags him that they should be together always. He comes toward, she screams, and that's the end of the scene.

Meanwhile, in Brighton, the police are investigating a break-in that occurred in a rental management company. The company's book of leases is the only thing stolen. Inspector Fred Fellows (Jack Warner) is brought in on the case.

Fellows begins by looking at leases that were nearly expired. They find one of the houses deserted, except that in a trunk in the garage, they find a dismembered woman.

Really excellent and intricate story that manages to be interesting and exciting despite the fact that the police have to do grunt work and run into dead ends. The acting is very good, and Val Guest, often a director for Hammer films, does a great job keeping the film moving. He also shows how people lived in that era, which was in a very basic, economical way. Ronald Lewis, Ray Barrett, Michael Goodliffe, and Guest's real-life wife, Yolande Donlan, are all very good.

Highly recommended.

I first saw this film at the ABC Golders Green on 26th September 1962.It was a film that stuck in the memory.I watched it again last night and I have to say that it has lost none of its atmosphere over the years.I have been going to Brighton for over 50 years so I remember the Brighton of the era shown in this film.The film was a very straight forward plot which it tells exceedingly well.It isn't that difficult to guess the murderer but that doesn't spoil it.The only performance out of kilter is that of Donla who is allowed to go well over the top for no good reason.One interesting point is that there is little in the way of forensics in this film just plain legwork.