Paranoiac - 1963 film review

If you were going to make a Hammer Horror movie, I don't think that a novel written by Josephine Tey would spring to mind as obvious source material. Yet her excellent story Brat Farrar was turned by Jimmy Sangster into Paranoiac, and what is even more surprising is that he made a pretty good job of it. Some Tey fans may hate the over-the-top elements, but the film was definitely more enjoyable than I expected. 

Directed by Freddie Francis - who won two Oscars for other work - the film moves at a sprightly pace, opening with a church service in memory of members of the Ashby family. The death of the parents, followed by the subsequent suicide of their oldest child Tony, meant that the remaining children, Eleanor and Simon, have been brought up by their Aunt Harriet.

But they are a troubled group, to put it mildly. Eleanor (Janette Scott) is haunted by Tony's death and Simon (Oliver Reed, at his most crazed and menacing) is trying to have her committed to an asylum so that he can inherit the whole of the family fortune. Eleanor is being 'looked after' by a glamorous French nurse who is having a torrid affair with Simon, while Harriet (Shelia Burrell) has plenty of issues of her own. The family solicitor and trustee (Maurice Denham) fights a losing battle to maintain order, not helped by the villainy of his son and junior partner. Elisabeth Lutyens' music adds to the mood of melancholy and melodrama.

The quality of the cast contributes to the success of the film. There are incestuous sub-texts that would have startled Tey, and although the 'returning prodigal' character is played rather woodenly by Alexander Davion, there are enough plot twists and moments of drama to satisfy most viewers looking for a Sixties horror movie that is better written than most.

 

Forgotten Book - Who is Simon Warwick?

Who is Simon Warwick? is another Forgotten Book that I've chosen by Patricia Moyes, whose memory is being honoured this year at Malice Domestic. This is a book first published in 1978, and whilst I have not read every book that Moyes ever wrote, suffice to say that if she ever wrote a more ingenious whodunit than this one, I would be as surprised as I'd be impressed. Yes, you'll have gathered that I'm very enthusiastic about this one - it's my favourite Moyes.

The starting point is a search for a missing heir - a topic that has driven varied and interesting novels by Josephine Tey (the splendid Brat Farrar) and Julian Symons,(whose novels are nowadays sadly under-estimated, although The Belting Inheritance is enjoyable rather than brilliant) among other crime writers.

A rich man who does not have long to live summons his solicitor, who rejoices in the name Ambrose Quince, and asks him to draw up a new will, disinheriting various hopefuls in favour of his nephew,who was born during the war, and later adopted. This is the very mysterious Simon Warwick of the title.

Despite various well-founded reservations, Ambrose does as he is told, and when his client dies, he advertises for Simon Warwick - but two potentially credible claimants come forward  One of them - at least - is an impostor. But which one? When one of them is murdered, the plot thickens further. Did one of those who were disinherited commit the crime?

Henry Tibbett investigates, and as usual his wife Emmy gets in on the act. There are some splendid plot twists, and a neat solution to the various mysteries that Moyes has constructed with real cunning. She was, really, working in Golden Age territory long after the Golden Age - and using some of the freedom given by changes within society to come up with new ideas. A very entertaining puzzle.