The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre

I remember my dad watching The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre on Australian TV in the 1960s along with the Perry Mason series. I also saw some installments on the big screen at the cinema as a second feature during the 1960s. Excellent production values, sets, top actors and sharp cinema quality black and white photography. Very good scripts with each episode having a good twist in the tail. The series is currently being repeated on early morning free to air TV in Australia. Still stands up as a good mystery anthology series and well worth a view.

A series of films with clever plot twists, surprises and the best of British. Looked upon as a TV series, but these were low budget B movies.

The quality does vary somewhat, when they're good, they're great, and episodes such as Change Partners, Ricochet and Playback are all terrific thrillers.

Return to Sender and Locker 69 are the only real clunkers, but in a way, both are still fairly watchable. Sometimes the format did get a little repetitive, and I'd argue that on a few instances there was just a lack of variety.

Expect to see some wonderful, well known faces, the likes of John Thaw, Michael Gough, William Hartnell and of course Michael Caine. Two of my personal favourite performances come from Barry Forster and Kenneth Cope.

That simple, but effective opening sequence still looks great, and that accompanying music still sounds wonderfully haunting.

I love the visuals, the clothes, cars, interiors etc, one thing always gets me, just how busy The High Streets aleUs are.

I'm still struggling to track down The Malpas mystery, for some reason it just seems impossible to track down, one day.

8/10.

It was never a show! or a TV series! it was a cinema film series which was then sold to America as a TV series, and now everybody (for some reason) lists it as a TV series rather than a series of films!! But it was first released to British cinemas by Anglo-Amalgamated as second features between 1962-7, sometimes as a companion to the 'Carry-on' films. Most of the films are very enjoyable, as well as seeing actors like Steptoe & Son's Harry H. Corbett doing something totally different!, in his doing a straight role as a police inspector rather than his usual comedy or seeing Londoner Sir Michael Caine in 'Solo For Sparrow' (1962), with an Irish accent!! What else is new? These were over 30 features made for the 'Edgar Wallace' film series but then (for American TV) it was filled up to 50, so how many are true Edgar Wallace??? Writers like Richard Harris and Roger Marshall have said that none of the films were based on Edgar Wallace stories, but were all original in the same way as the colour series of 'The Saint' with Roger Moore that wasn't based on any Leslie Charteris' stories. It's also good to watch to see future stars at the start of their careers in small roles e.g. Wanda Ventham as a waitress in 'Solo For Sparrow' (1962), future 'Eastenders' and 'Carry On' star Barbara Windsor, as well as Kenneth Cope from 'Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)' and Barbara Shelly in 'Deathtrap' (1962) with Kenneth Cope again in 'Change Partners' (1965). Great to watch.

THE EDGAR WALLACE MYSTERY THEATRE is remarkable in several ways. For one it's not a made-for-television series but a collection of 47 one hour B movies made between 1959 and 1965. The second is the inclusion of 10 short features made separately, then lumped in when the series was sold to American TV. But what's best and the most interesting, at least to this viewer, is that MYSTERY THEATRE is a vivid time capsule of England, and especially post WWII London still recovering from the war. The series features a number of familiar British faces such as Bernard Lee, Maxine Audley, Patrick Magee, Jennifer Daniel, Nigel Green, and Michael Gough. One name who went on to a 60 year international career is Micheal Caine who appears in SOLO FOR SWALLOW (Episode 20)

Other noteworthy episodes include THE MAN WHO WAS NOBODY (Episode 4), THE SINISTER MAN (Episode 13), NUMBER 6 (Episode 18), THE PARTNER (Episode 32), FACE OF A STRANGER (Episode 39) and the most offbeat one, ACT OF MURDER (Episode 40). As maybe you can tell by the numbering, I think the earlier episodes are the better ones. Edgar Wallace's stock-in-trade were "impossible" mysteries which had to be sleuthed and solved. Only 3 of the 47 titles fall into this particular category, CLUE OF THE TWISTED CANDLE (Episode 1), CLUE OF THE NEW PIN (Episode 6), and CLUE OF THE SILVER KEY (Episode 9). The vast majority of the stories are standard crime capers which have little to do with the Edgar Wallace mystery method. We're told who did it at the beginning and watch to see how they'll get caught in the end.

While the series was clearly running out of steam by the time it concluded in 1965, these movies are still very well made with excellent black & white photography and sincere, never condescending performances. They remain fascinating to watch for glimpses of the early 1960s fashions, working class Brit automobiles, and incredible grocery store items at unbelievable prices. All 47 EDGAR WALLACE MYSTERY titles were made at the small Merton Park Studio, now long gone, however we do get a glimpse of MPS in THE PARTNER which concerns a murder at the studio. The 10 independent features, appropriately from Independent Artists Productions, contain more a bit more substance. They were made at a rival studio, Beaconsfield, which is still operating today.

The 10 IAP B movies have nothing to do with Wallace. They were made as second features for British cinemas and run a little over an hour in length. Three of the films were directed by B movie specialist Vernon Sewell with two (HOUSE OF MYSTERY, THE MAN IN THE BACK SEAT) being outstanding. Another two (THE MALPUS MYSTERY, SEVEN KEYS) come the closest to Wallace in their execution. There are currently two complete sets of the 47 films plus the 10 independent features available. One is from Network while the other is from ViaVision. They're basically a toss-up, but for me the nod goes to the Network set. Both have crisp, clear pictures and good, clean sound. Sadly there aren't subtitles which would have helped with the British vernacular. Also available with mixed results on streaming...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Absolutely brilliant programme, watched many times and always enjoy, so much better imagination than a lot of rubbish on tv now.