A psychotic killer, billed simply as 'The Man' (Harry H Corbett), is targeting the fashion models who appear on the front page of Wow magazine. Each body is discovered wearing the same costume, in the same pose and the same setting as they featured in the publication. Inspector Brunner (Victor Brooks) reluctantly agrees to allow the magazine's owner, John Mason (Spencer Teakle), run a series of articles covering the investigation. But, Mason is none too happy when the inspector succeeds in persuading his girlfriend, the showgirl June Rawson (Felicity Young), to be Wow's next cover girl in a bid to lead the murderer into a trap. However, he is a man of great cunning and spots it a mile off so June's life is put in serious danger...
Like so many of the Butcher's studio's late fifties and sixties 'B' pictures, this was a regular feature on late night television (ITV) in the 1990's. I was attracted to it because of Harry H Corbett's casting as a serial killer and I set my video accordingly. Like millions of people, I was so used to seeing him play the long suffering son of Wilfred Brambell's rag and bone man in the timeless sitcom Steptoe And Son that I just had to see what he would be like playing a dramatic role in a straight thriller. After seeing it, I reached the conclusion that what he did he did magnificently neatly portraying his character's cunning, resourcefulness, intelligence and the way he tried so hard to conceal his unstable personality that looked as though it could break at any given moment. There's a great moment where he goes to see the inspector in disguise as a wealthy landlord who claims to have rented a property to the killer. "What did you think of him?", asks Brunner. Sensing the opportunity for a bit of self flattery, he replies "a man of high intelligence, well educated and of very decided views" to which Brunner replies "Well, he can be all of those things and still be a psychopath." At this stage, he only narrowly avoids giving himself away as the look on his face would have done had the inspector not had his back to him messing around with a filing cabinet. Hurt, he replies "The borderline between what we call insanity and a hypersensitive intellect are not always clear, inspector." The psychology regarding his motives for his crimes is arguably simplified - well, it is only a second feature, after all - but it is neatly summed up when he tells his intended victim that the inspector views him as a psychopath and says "If wanting to give man back his dignity to free him from the lustful images, which foul his mind and his sanity is madness - well, I suppose he's right." Yet, understandably, the actor did seem rather miscast but I thought that audiences who saw this prior to Steptoe And Son becoming a household name probably didn't think so because the star had not yet become so firmly identified in that part. In any case, fans of Harry H Corbett are bound to love it and, in fact, his atypical casting here adds to the fun.
In every other respect, Cover Girl Killer is streets ahead of many British b-pics since it was directed by the talented Terry Bishop who generates some nail-biting suspense - especially at the climax. Brunner succeeds in getting June to pose as Wow's cover girl, but the killer does not fall for it and sees the police surrounding the theatre as he goes to make his move. So, he retreats and hires an out of work actor to impersonate him on the pretext that he is getting an audition at the theatre. The police arrest him thinking that their plan has gone like clockwork, but June is now in grave peril since he returns to the place late that night cornering her in her dressing room. But, will her boyfriend be sharp enough to realise that this poor, unfortunate actor is not the man? Spencer Teakle and Felicity Young are both more than competent in their roles as the young couple and anybody who saw them together in Butcher's The Gentle Trap (1960) as a safecracker and his girlfriend-accomplice will see the remarkable contrast with their very different roles here, which will make it easy for you to judge their acting talents. Victor Brooks is utterly convincing in his dogged police inspector part (he was a policeman in many a b-movie) and Gerald Gibbs' b/w cinematography heightens the tension with a good sense of place and atmosphere.
Available on DVD with Terry Bishop's Life In Danger.
Like so many of the Butcher's studio's late fifties and sixties 'B' pictures, this was a regular feature on late night television (ITV) in the 1990's. I was attracted to it because of Harry H Corbett's casting as a serial killer and I set my video accordingly. Like millions of people, I was so used to seeing him play the long suffering son of Wilfred Brambell's rag and bone man in the timeless sitcom Steptoe And Son that I just had to see what he would be like playing a dramatic role in a straight thriller. After seeing it, I reached the conclusion that what he did he did magnificently neatly portraying his character's cunning, resourcefulness, intelligence and the way he tried so hard to conceal his unstable personality that looked as though it could break at any given moment. There's a great moment where he goes to see the inspector in disguise as a wealthy landlord who claims to have rented a property to the killer. "What did you think of him?", asks Brunner. Sensing the opportunity for a bit of self flattery, he replies "a man of high intelligence, well educated and of very decided views" to which Brunner replies "Well, he can be all of those things and still be a psychopath." At this stage, he only narrowly avoids giving himself away as the look on his face would have done had the inspector not had his back to him messing around with a filing cabinet. Hurt, he replies "The borderline between what we call insanity and a hypersensitive intellect are not always clear, inspector." The psychology regarding his motives for his crimes is arguably simplified - well, it is only a second feature, after all - but it is neatly summed up when he tells his intended victim that the inspector views him as a psychopath and says "If wanting to give man back his dignity to free him from the lustful images, which foul his mind and his sanity is madness - well, I suppose he's right." Yet, understandably, the actor did seem rather miscast but I thought that audiences who saw this prior to Steptoe And Son becoming a household name probably didn't think so because the star had not yet become so firmly identified in that part. In any case, fans of Harry H Corbett are bound to love it and, in fact, his atypical casting here adds to the fun.
In every other respect, Cover Girl Killer is streets ahead of many British b-pics since it was directed by the talented Terry Bishop who generates some nail-biting suspense - especially at the climax. Brunner succeeds in getting June to pose as Wow's cover girl, but the killer does not fall for it and sees the police surrounding the theatre as he goes to make his move. So, he retreats and hires an out of work actor to impersonate him on the pretext that he is getting an audition at the theatre. The police arrest him thinking that their plan has gone like clockwork, but June is now in grave peril since he returns to the place late that night cornering her in her dressing room. But, will her boyfriend be sharp enough to realise that this poor, unfortunate actor is not the man? Spencer Teakle and Felicity Young are both more than competent in their roles as the young couple and anybody who saw them together in Butcher's The Gentle Trap (1960) as a safecracker and his girlfriend-accomplice will see the remarkable contrast with their very different roles here, which will make it easy for you to judge their acting talents. Victor Brooks is utterly convincing in his dogged police inspector part (he was a policeman in many a b-movie) and Gerald Gibbs' b/w cinematography heightens the tension with a good sense of place and atmosphere.
Available on DVD with Terry Bishop's Life In Danger.