Accidental Death (1963)

Accidental Death is a late entry in the British Merton Park Edgar Wallace cycle of crime thrillers. These were released theatrically in Britain (as supporting features) and were screened on television in the US as The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre.

These movies were only very loosely based on Edgar Wallace stories. Very loosely indeed.

Johnnie Paxton (Richard Vernon) lives in a rather palatial home and is clearly not short of money. He had been a war hero, serving in one of those hush-hush outfits operating behind enemy lines. He lives with Henriette (Jacqueline Ellis). He raised her after her parents were killed by the Gestapo. She’s not actually his adoptive daughter in a legal sense but in practice they have a father-daughter relationship. Henriette’s parents saved Paxton’s life during the war so raising Henriette was in the nature of discharging a debt.

Henriette has a boyfriend, a rather jealous young man named Alan (Derrick Sherwin).

Things start to get tense when Paul Lanson (John Carson) suddenly shows up. Paul had fought with the French Resistance during the war. He and Paxton are old comrades. Paul seems a bit edgy. His behaviour is generally odd.

Then Paul tells Paxton the reason for his surprise visit. He intends to kill Paxton. He believes that Paxton betrayed a number of Resistance fighters, including Henriette’s parents.

That immediately sets up a tense situation but there’s another factor to add to the tension - he developing romantic triangle between Henriette, Paul and Alan.

The viewer has no way of knowing if there is any substance to Paul’s accusations. Paxton’s reaction could indicate either guilt or innocence. We don’t really know what to make of him. Is he a hero or a villain?

And of course we don’t know what to make of Paxton either. He might also be either a hero or a villain.

To add a bit more spice, we know that Paul has a gun.

The ending is quite clever and original and suspenseful.

Richard Vernon is one of my favourite British character actors of this era and he’s excellent, and nicely ambiguous, here. John Carson is good although I’m not sold on his French accent. He does manage to make us very unsettled, with Paul at times seeming slightly creepy and at times seeming perhaps a trifle unstable, but he doesn’t over do it. We still believe that it’s possible that Paul is the good guy.

Derrick Sherwin and Jacqueline Ellis are fine.

Geoffrey Nethercott was the director of Accidental Death (and of another entry in this cycle, Who was Maddox?) and he does a competent job. In common with most of the directors of these Edgar Wallace movies he spent the vast majority of his career working in television.

Arthur La Bern wrote the script, and wrote a couple of other Wallace films including Time to Remember (1962) and The Verdict (1964). More notably, he wrote Frenzy for Alfred Hitchcock.

These movies were all shot in widescreen and in black-and-white.

This movie is included in Network’s Edgar Wallace Mysteries volume 5 DVD boxed set. The 16:9 enhanced transfer is what we expect from Network it’s excellent. There are no extras.

Accidental Death is not one of the best movies in this series and there are some far-fetched elements in the plot but it’s enjoyable and it has a few oddball touches that do give it an Edgar Wallace flavour. Recommended.