Wanted for Murder [1946] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Customer Reviews:

Great British vintage thriller........2007-12-24

Eric Portman heads an all star cast in this great old British thriller from 1946.

Eric Portman (one of the most surly yet attractive actors of the day) plays a Strangler who is on the loose in London that taunts the police about his elusive capture. Talented actress Barbara Everest plays the 'understanding' mother.

A young Dulcie Gray co-stars, and there's also a small role for a young and handsome Wilfred Hyde-White who plays an elderly curator! The thrills and drama are backed by a beautifully dramatic classical score.

Great vintage stuff!

Note: For some reason, this DVD plays perfectly on Region 2, though it is clearly marked 'NTSC region 1'

A serial strangler, with excellent performances by Eric Portman and Roland Culver.......2007-08-21

Victor Colebrooke (Eric Portman) has a serious problem. He's a successful, well-mannered London businessman in 1946 who is compelled to strangle young women with his bare hands. He has murdered six so far. The police, led by Chief Inspector Conway (Roland Culver), have been stymied, but little by little Colebrooke's psychopathic need to demonstrate his superiority and Conway's meticulous persistence are bringing them closer together.

Colebrooke, it turns out, is the son of the late William Colebrooke, the public hangmen in late Victorian times. He hanged 45 men and women, and seemed never happier than when he was tightening the noose around their necks and pulling the lever. Victor can't remember his father, but he is obsessed by what his father did. He lives in a fine house with his mother, who tries to protect him, but he cannot stop his compulsions. "Set me free...set me free..." he cries to himself. He is friends with Anne Fielding (Dulcie Gray), a shop girl who works in a record store. He comes to believe that she, by marrying him, can save him. Anne, however, has met a young service veteran, they've fallen in love, and she tells Victor she must stop seeing him. Enraged and unbalanced, Victor now chooses Anne as his next victim.

Wanted for Murder is a solidly constructed, moody study of a psychopath, directed with craftsmanship by Lawrence Huntington and with a screenplay co-written by Emeric Pressburger, one half of The Archers. The photography is excellent, from deep shadows obscuring all of Portman's face except his eyes to sunny but tense scenes in London's streets and parks. The film also is an example of a type of British movie typical of the Thirties, Forties and well into the Fifties, where the lead players often were the epitome of the English gentleman and well-mannered English woman, where any actor aiming for lead roles needed to master that cultured English accent that transformed "here" into "heah" and "girls" into "gels."

With that said, the movie remains a carefully crafted, tense and sometimes amusing film. Some scenes I particularly liked: 1) The evening fairground at Hampstead Heath, crowded with people enjoying rides and puppet plays, and where Colebrooke, seen only from the back, spots the laughing young woman he soon will strangle to death; 2) The quick, funny discussion concerning the merits of rice blancmange; 3) The scenes involving immaculate sparring between Inspector Conway and Colebrooke. Roland Culver and Eric Portman were the type of actor who exuded assured self-confidence as easily as other actors breathed. It was good fun seeing these two spar; 4) Victor's violent smashing of the statue of his father at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. We only see his back until it's over, then he swiftly turns, the camera cuts away, and for only an instant there is a glimpse of Portman's face, slack jawed with his mouth open...an unsettling image of a mad man; 5) At Regent's Park at night, when Colebrooke has strangled his latest victim and suddenly a young serviceman and his girl appear. The serviceman walks up to Colebrooke to ask for a light. Colebrooke is sitting with his back to man, looking like he's holding his arm around his own girl, except if you look closely you can see her dead hand motionless on the ground.

The movie has a lot to offer. It's not a forgotten classic, but it's an example of so many of those well-made movies of the past which have been forgotten. If you like older movies, a taut story, and assured acting by two skilled players, Culver and Portman, you might enjoy this film. The black and white DVD transfer looks very good. There are no extras to speak of.

As a note: If you enjoy the mannered, amusing pretensions of the English upper-class, you should watch Roland Culver, Clive Brook, Beatrice Lillie and Googie Withers in On Approval.

British post-war classic thriller........2007-01-28

This is a great film.Eric Portman at his best-snooty,but sinister.Respectable ( but psychotic ) Portman,pursues babe Dulcie Gray.She rejects his advances,just as well, as Portman is The Hampstead Heath Strangler.Some chap comes to her rescue and Portman meets a sticky end in a pond.This is such a fab film-WILL SOMEONE PLEASE RELEASE IT ON REGION 2 DVD.

Wanted for Murder [1946] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Wanted for Murder [1946] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Lawrence Huntington
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Categories | DVD | Video

DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
ASIN: 630710533X
Release Date: 2002-08-06

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