Three episodes of "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" edited together for theatrical release.Three episodes of "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" edited together for theatrical release.Three episodes of "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" edited together for theatrical release.
Patricia Owens
- Betty Hartley
- (archive footage)
Dana Wynter
- Francine Rapport
- (as Dagmar Wynter)
Peter Butterworth
- Bank clerk
- (uncredited)
Cy Endfield
- Man leaving British Museum library
- (uncredited)
Pat Hagan
- Police Constable at Bank
- (uncredited)
Victor Harrington
- Customer in Bank
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Leo Davis
- John Dickson Carr(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaA pilot comprising three stories which would become episodes of the TV series 'Colonel March of Scotland Yard', filmed in the Autumn of 1952 at Nettlefold Studios: "Hot Money (1956)," "Death in the Dressing Room (1956)," and "The New Invisible Man (1956)."
- GoofsIn the final segment, 'The New Invisible Man', Major Rodman is kept in the police station. It is not clear who, therefore, has lit the fire in his sitting room, and kept it blazing all day.
- Quotes
Insp. Ames: The radiator! Now why didn't I think of that?
Col. March: My dear Ames. Please don't embarrass us both by forcing me to answer that question.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: LONDON
- ConnectionsEdited from Colonel March of Scotland Yard (1954)
Featured review
An Enjoyable Sampler of An Old TV Series
The master of the locked room mystery was, unarguably, John Dickson Carr, one of the most popular crime writers of the Golden Age. His masterpiece, The Hollow Man (1935), retains an almost legendary status among crime fiction fans, but he is now sadly forgotten by the wider public. The books have long been out of print in this country and I'm always hoping that some publisher will bring them back. Perhaps they are so obscure because Carr's most famous sleuths, Dr Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale, never made it to the screen. One of his lesser characters managed it, however, in the early 1950s, with the television series Colonel March of Scotland Yard.
Carr had used the character only once in his 1940 short story collection The Department of Queer Complaints, in which there is a subdivision of Scotland Yard that specialises in crimes of a curious or apparently impossible nature. The series was financed by the Americans and starred international film star Boris Karloff - most famous for playing the Chinese-American detective Mr Wong and, of course, Frankenstein's Monster. At this point in his long career, Karloff was a frequent guest on American radio series and even had his own show for children in which he read stories and told riddles. In 1952, he returned to England and made three episodes for ITV which acted as pilots for a longer series. Eventually, twenty six were produced, all of which were a brisk 25 minutes long.
The first three made were stitched together for release to cinemas in 1953. This was not uncommon for a TV show at the time and the practice would continue into the next decade, particularly with The Saint. Colonel March Investigates, then, is a taut 70 minute anthology of three slight, though entertaining, mysteries with the twinkly-eyed Karloff. He gives the character an eye-patch, which he didn't have in the stories, but it adds something to the character, as we can imagine he may have lost it in the First World War. This, perhaps, is someone who has witnessed untold horrors and has come to terms with the world by engaging with its more whimsical wonders.
Unsurprisingly, there is a framing device which helps tie the three tales together, in which March stands in his office and inspects a cupboard stocked with souvenirs of his cases before leading the audience into the corresponding story.
The first of these, aired as 'Hot Money', revolves around a bank robbery in which a clerk is incriminated. He follows the criminal to an office, where the money is seemingly stored. However, when the place is searched, the money has apparently disappeared. Despite the clerk being framed in the silliest of ways, the resolution is pretty decent, but nothing too special. Joan Sims appears here in an early role, and March reveals a John Steed-like umbrella sword!
The second story was aired as 'Death in the Dressing Room', which is probably the weakest of the three. Set in a nightclub, it features an exotic dance routine which acts as a clue, while the always reliable Richard Wattis plays the manager. The running time to these is so short that there is virtually no time to set up a number of suspects, so the culprit tends to be the person who has been in it the most. No matter, as it's all about how March gets his man, which he does here in a tense confrontation. As usual, March's sparring partner is the Scottish Inspector Ames (Ewan Roberts), though you wonder why he's there as March seems to be a famous genius.
The third story, intriguingly titled 'The New Invisible Man', features a peeping tom who has apparently witnessed a pair of animated gloves committing murder, and a scene of a crime with no evidence of a crime. It's the best one, I think, though there are a couple of problems. We get the opportunity to see the gloves in action ourselves, but it doesn't look much like the way it's shown to us in the reveal. The trick is good, nonetheless, and it certainly had me baffled. The reason behind it all is pretty shaky, however, and involves stolen paintings and, eventually, a kidnapped March. It's all good fun, though, which is what I'd call the film as a whole. And an interesting peek, as ever, into bygone England. It's just a pity the complete series isn't available.
Carr had used the character only once in his 1940 short story collection The Department of Queer Complaints, in which there is a subdivision of Scotland Yard that specialises in crimes of a curious or apparently impossible nature. The series was financed by the Americans and starred international film star Boris Karloff - most famous for playing the Chinese-American detective Mr Wong and, of course, Frankenstein's Monster. At this point in his long career, Karloff was a frequent guest on American radio series and even had his own show for children in which he read stories and told riddles. In 1952, he returned to England and made three episodes for ITV which acted as pilots for a longer series. Eventually, twenty six were produced, all of which were a brisk 25 minutes long.
The first three made were stitched together for release to cinemas in 1953. This was not uncommon for a TV show at the time and the practice would continue into the next decade, particularly with The Saint. Colonel March Investigates, then, is a taut 70 minute anthology of three slight, though entertaining, mysteries with the twinkly-eyed Karloff. He gives the character an eye-patch, which he didn't have in the stories, but it adds something to the character, as we can imagine he may have lost it in the First World War. This, perhaps, is someone who has witnessed untold horrors and has come to terms with the world by engaging with its more whimsical wonders.
Unsurprisingly, there is a framing device which helps tie the three tales together, in which March stands in his office and inspects a cupboard stocked with souvenirs of his cases before leading the audience into the corresponding story.
The first of these, aired as 'Hot Money', revolves around a bank robbery in which a clerk is incriminated. He follows the criminal to an office, where the money is seemingly stored. However, when the place is searched, the money has apparently disappeared. Despite the clerk being framed in the silliest of ways, the resolution is pretty decent, but nothing too special. Joan Sims appears here in an early role, and March reveals a John Steed-like umbrella sword!
The second story was aired as 'Death in the Dressing Room', which is probably the weakest of the three. Set in a nightclub, it features an exotic dance routine which acts as a clue, while the always reliable Richard Wattis plays the manager. The running time to these is so short that there is virtually no time to set up a number of suspects, so the culprit tends to be the person who has been in it the most. No matter, as it's all about how March gets his man, which he does here in a tense confrontation. As usual, March's sparring partner is the Scottish Inspector Ames (Ewan Roberts), though you wonder why he's there as March seems to be a famous genius.
The third story, intriguingly titled 'The New Invisible Man', features a peeping tom who has apparently witnessed a pair of animated gloves committing murder, and a scene of a crime with no evidence of a crime. It's the best one, I think, though there are a couple of problems. We get the opportunity to see the gloves in action ourselves, but it doesn't look much like the way it's shown to us in the reveal. The trick is good, nonetheless, and it certainly had me baffled. The reason behind it all is pretty shaky, however, and involves stolen paintings and, eventually, a kidnapped March. It's all good fun, though, which is what I'd call the film as a whole. And an interesting peek, as ever, into bygone England. It's just a pity the complete series isn't available.
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- djfjflsflscv
- Apr 3, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Department of Queer Complaints
- Filming locations
- 140 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, England, UK(exterior Barclays Bank)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Colonel March Investigates (1953) officially released in Canada in English?
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