Trents Last Case

Film Details

Cast

Orson Welles, Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding

Technical Details

Star Review

When international financier Siggsbee Manderson (Welles) is found dead in the flowerbed, the police are quick to declare it suicide. Ace reporter Philip Trent (Wilding) is not so sure: he suspects foul play and sets to work finding the killer. Is the grieving widow genuinely distraught? Was the private secretary really in Southampton? And who is the mysterious ‘George Harrison’?

Trent’s Last Case is a whodunit of the old school: it might seem a little dated to viewers of CSI but that, of course, is all part of its charm. It’s a real ‘in-the-study, with-the-lead-piping’ puzzler, complete with a country house, red herrings and multiple suspects.

In truth, most amateur sleuths will tumble the killer long before Trent himself: the why is more important than the who and the how. The real pleasure comes from the unforced pace and stalwart cast, which includes Miles Malleson and a babyfaced Kenneth Williams. So, break out your magnifying glasses, warm up your little grey cells and enjoy a film where murderers knew how to dress for dinner.

Barney Kelley on 24th December 2007

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Film Description

The body of American financial tycoon Manderson is found in the grounds of his Hampshire mansion, shot neatly in the left eye by a revolver that he had given his English secretary John Marlowe. The coroner’s verdict is suicide but Phillip Trent – famed painter, newspaper reporter and crime investigator - is uneasy. Sent down to cover the story, he soon concludes that Marlowe in fact killed Manderson, until a confrontation with the secretary at Manderson’s widow’s request soon reveals an amazing twist in the mystery. Stars the incomparable Orson Welles.

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