Calling Paul Temple

First of four B films adapted from very popular radio programmes of the 40s and 50s Highly enjoyable for fans of old fashioned mysteries. Nice location work in Canterbury though matte shots from cars involving rolling scenery date it. Leads both good including Sheridan who would move onto A films including the wonderful "Genervive"

Paul and Steve Temple are back, even if this time they're John Bentley and Dinah Sheridan. They're helping Scotland Yard track down a blackmailer who signs his murders "Rex". This puzzles the Yard, since dead women rarely pay ransom.

I agree with their reasoning. The trail leads to Abraham Sofaer, who's a psychiatrist and hypnotist, his suspicious-seeming secretary Margaretta Scott, who comes to Bentley for help, then seems to almost get him and Miss Sheridan blown up. Then there's..... oh, everyone, to the extent that I was growing suspicious of Shaym Bahadur, who plays their valet, Rikki. He didn't look like that in the last movie!

The mystery aspect of this one is not as good as the last one. The red herrings get piled on in such confusion that when the bad guy was revealed, it seemed a random choice. Canterbury seems to be about three minutes by car from Scotland Yard. In addition, the movie-serial nature of this movie stuck out, including a couple of cornball cliffhangers that went out of style in the 1930s, and the sort of canned music that Universal kept in stock to be plugged in just before the the car went over the cliff and the gong sounded.

Sigh. Well, it's Maclean Rogers directing; I'm sure that if you gave him a good budget, a good script and some real talent, he could direct a heck of a good movie. I don't think anyone ever did. This was Nettlefold Studios with Butcher's Film Service distributing, so money was tight; besides, the character was established on the radio and in the first movie, so it was likely a matter of they didn't need it good, they needed it Tuesday. At least there's some nice second-unit shot of Canterbury and some pleasant night-time shooting by Geoffrey Faithfull.

With the British public still experiencing severe rationing in 1948 and bomb sites scarring the landscape of many of our cities, people needed the cinema as a much needed form of escapism and in this respect 'Calling Paul Temple' - inspired by the 'Paul Temple' long running BBC radio programmes, delivers just that! Our eponymous handsome, suave and debonair hero, played by John Bentley, is plunged into investigating a catalogue of mysterious murders, and by generously helping Scotland Yard, who appear clueless, our well dressed sleuth takes on the challenge to track down the killer, accompanied by his wife and 'sidekick,' the elegant and delightful Dinah Sheridan, who always seems to be dressed up for a special social event. Both our cheery husband and wife, only seem to patronise the best restaurants as well as expensive night clubs, all the time smiling relentlessly and exchanging endearments. Of course, it's a million miles away from the real world of Scotland Yard detectives, investigating sordid crimes in dingy and mean streets of London. But the film makes no pretence at social realism as it's something which the audience were being confronted with on a daily basis. The storyline is strictly light hearted, and the tempo is bright and breezy. I was interested to see Dennis Wheatley featured in the film as his 'stock in trade' was playing the dastardly smarmy villain. On the whole it's worth watching just to see how much social etiquette has changed as well as the centre of London.

CALLING PAUL TEMPLE is the second of four feature films starring radio detective Paul Temple, who along with his sidekick Steve (a woman) investigates various murders and crimes at the behest of Scotland Yard. This follows on from the sub-standard debut feature SEND FOR PAUL TEMPLE and was followed by the rarely-seen PAUL TEMPLE'S TRIUMPH.

The story is a straightforward one of murder and intrigue as Temple and Steve find themselves hot on the trail of a murderer by the name of Rex. Rex specialises in bumping people off at random, often when they're just about to reveal his identity; shades of THE 39 STEPS with the Mr. Memory assassination. Still, this is a well-paced and enjoyable little affair, with plenty of red herrings and suspense to recommend it.

It's not a perfect film by any means. Just after the arresting opening, things slow down for an endless nightclub song routine which seems to go on for about twenty minutes. Afterwards the plotting is a little crammed due to this endless filler material. Still, John Bentley and Dinah Sheridan have plenty of chemistry as the crime-fighting duo, and fans will find this reasonably entertaining.

Once again, the assistance of crime novelist Paul Temple, recently married to 'Steve' Trent is required by Scotland Yard. They're baffled by a particularly repulsive character signing himself 'Rex' who blackmails women then murders them.

This scores over the other two films in the series I've seen, SEND FOR PAUL TEMPLE and PAUL TEMPLE RETURNS, not least for the enjoyable performances of John Bentley and Dinah Sheridan who were ideal as Paul and Steve; there's a real chemistry and sense of fun and romance between them. Bentley was very much at home in this kind of role, evoking that air of cheerful authority that Roger Moore was later able to bring to his portrayal of The Saint and interpretation of James Bond. Exquisitely beautiful Dinah Sheridan lights up the screen in a sparkling performance with her diverting, amusing repartee with Paul and benefits from a script that gives Steve an equal role in tracking down the killer, discovering several vital clues. By comparison, in the BBC TV Paul Temple series, made at the turn of the 1970s, Steve had little to do, with the producers considering writing her out altogether at one point. It all gets off to a flying start with Celia Lipton - whatever happened to her? - as the nightclub vocalist, de rigueur in this kind of British B, falling dramatically down the stairs in the middle of her second number, Steve Race's "What's Cooking in Cabaret?". I've seen acts die before, but not like this. From then on there's red herrings galore as suspicion falls on most of the characters in turn, played by some admirable actors including Abraham Sofaer as a therapist, his mysterious secretary Mrs. Trevelyan (Margaretta Scott) and salesman Hugh Pryse, who could almost be a younger, Welsh, relation of Alastair Sim. Good old Wally Patch is Temple's underworld grass Spider Williams; he also supported Bentley in the two films featuring John Creasey's hero The Toff, both also directed by Maclean Rogers and now apparently lost. There's time for some fascinating glimpses of Canterbury as it was then, and for Paul and Steve to be tied up in a cellar with the water rising remorselessly. Then the time-honoured denouement with all the suspects gathered together in one room and finally an almighty punch-up between Temple and the villain, to a reprise of the melodramatic title music. Great escapist fun 1940s style.