Murder in Eden

Murder in Eden is a quota quickie. A low budget B movie that has an early leading role for the great character actor Ray McAnally.

He plays Inspector Sharkey called into investigate the death of an art critic in a hit and run accident. The critic had earlier claimed that some paintings in an art exhibition were fake.

Sharkey finds himself paired up with a beautiful French journalist Geneviève Beaujean. It is not long before someone tries to run Sharkey over.

A brisk plot but it still feels padded. At least there is an interesting twist near the end but was Sharkey always one step ahead?

This might be the only time McAnally had a leading role in a movie. Then again the film was shot in Ireland but is supposedly set in London.

The corpses pile up without anyone being too upset in this light-hearted quickie shot in Ireland concerning the theft of a painting worth £55,000 (a lot of money in those days). For probably the first and last time Ray McAnally plays the dashing two-fisted hero, while continental cutie Catherine Feller drives about in a bubble car to accordion music supplied on the soundtrack by Wilfred Burns to make sure we know she's French.

After he denounces a valuable painting as a fraud, art critic Max Aaronson is killed in a bit and run accident, but who possibly could have done it?

Better than I was expecting, definitely better than some of the comments would suggest, it's a very pleasing mystery, one with a couple of decent twists and turns.

There's a good scuttle at the end, with some decent looking fisticuffs, not always a success at this point in time, but they work here.

If you're a fan of all things 1960's, like I am, then there'll be something here for you, even if the story isn't quite your thing, you'll enjoy the fashions, styles, music and of course Genevieve's fabulous bubble car.

Solid performances throughout, everyone plays their part well, Genevieve was a cracking character.

7/10.

Art expert Robert Lepler tells gallery owner Mark Singleton that the old master he is about to deliver is a fine forgery. Someone switched it for the real one after Lepler authenticated it. He's working on a book on forgeries. He also tells Singleton that the latest painting he is touting is a forgery. Singleton pulls it, but Lepler dies in a hit-and-run, just as French journalist Catherine Feller shows up to interview him; she finds Inspector Ray McAnally crossing her path, as well as oil magnate and collector Jack Aranson, and restorer Michael Lucas.

It's a nice little script, fairly ambitious in its coverage of the hothouse world of art collection for a B movie, and always threatening to turn farcical when Miss Feller and McAnally cross paths. While director Max Vanel is good at covering the story and the visuals, the accents come and go, and a lot of the actors speak Received Pronunciation with what sounds to me like an Irish lilt. Some very smelly red herrings get dragged along the path, and it's a fair, although not too challenging mystery.

British B film with a run time of 61 minutes - let's give it a try. Fortunately, Murder in Eden didn't disappoint, at least not too much. It's actually kind of fun. The cast is all around solid and each plays their parts well, with most giving just the right touch. The story involving the art world, old masters, and forgery is fine, and even provides a little plot twist towards the end. The peppy score, cute little bubble car, all work together to give this little mystery just enough to keep the viewer engaged from beginning to end. I definitely think Murder in Eden is worth checking out if you tend to appreciate British mysteries, even those filmed in Ireland.