#final word and it wouldn't be unique in having a title screen that differed slightly from the official name of the show; either way it's a | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mariocki · 3 months ago

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Inspector Morley, Late of Scotland Yard, Investigates: The Case of the Scarlet Letters (1.3, WGN-TV, 1952)

"Mr. Mullins, I have in my possession sixty-eight letters, none of which has begun to outlive its usefulness. I'm quite prepared to admit that blackmail is risky, but then murder has its disadvantages too - that is why I gave up murder."

#inspector morley late of scotland yard investigates #inspector morley late of scotland yard #(there's some confusion about the correct title of this series; it appears onscreen with 'investigates' but many online sources omit the #final word and it wouldn't be unique in having a title screen that differed slightly from the official name of the show; either way it's a #hell of an unwieldy name for your programme.....)#classic tv #1952 #john gilling #victor m. gover #tod slaughter #patrick barr #tucker mcguire #leonard sharp #another rediscovered gem made available by the good folks at kaleidoscope #oof. ok. so the story of Inspector Morley is complicated and still semi mysterious (the show is 70 years old after all‚ there's precious #little surviving documentation). as far as it goes‚ this was a UK production intended for sale to the BBC (there existing no independent tv #company in 1952). the beeb‚ for whatever reason‚ passed on the series. 13 episodes had been made and of these about seven were cobbled #together into feature films to recoup some of the costs; those survived and saw occasional outings on rainy afternoon tv schedules here #it was thought that the remainder were junked‚ but research (not my own i hasten to add) has revealed that the whole series was in fact sol #to the US where it was shown on WGN (a Chicago based station i believe). when kaleidoscope recovered this particular episode some 6 or 7 #years ago‚ it was thought to be the sole surviving episode‚ at least in its original format (ie. not edited into a feature). actually it #sounds like they might all exist and a few are even on youtube (including this one). this is very early detective tv and it shows its age #not just in its ropey visuals (it's all quite soft and fuzzy) but in its very old fashioned shape and design‚ which is closer to mid #century film than what television would shortly become. that sensation is only furthered by the presence of the immortal Tod Slaughter‚ a #bastion of early british cinema and one of the first horror icons the uk ever produced. unusually‚ it seems like he starred in most (if not #all) of the episodes of the series; unusual bc he plays the villain‚ opposite Barr's staunch ex copper Morley. having a recurring villain #must certainly have helped when editing the shows into films for cinema release but it was quite a strange choice for tv #tho perhaps a set cast reduced costs (this was clearly a budget production‚ tho it does feature some impressive early location shooting)#Slaughter is great fun‚ in full scenery chewing mode as the wicked and unrepentant mastermind behind all sorts of crimes #Barr even has personal beef with him‚ though it would require seeing the other eps to fully understand it i suspect

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