"The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre"
The Double (1963)

Director:

Lionel Harris

Writers:

Lindsay Galloway (writer)
John Roddick (writer)

TV Series:

"The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre" (1960)

Original Air Date:

April 1963 (Season 4, Episode 4)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Jeanette Sterke	...	Mary Winston
Alan MacNaughton	...	John Cleeve
Robert Brown	...	Richard Harrison
Jane Griffiths	...	Jane Winston
Basil Henson	...	Derreck Alwyn
Anne Lawson	...	Sally Carter
Diane Clare	...	Selena Osmond
Llewellyn Rees	...	Bradshaw
John Miller	...	Sir Harry Osmonde
Dorothea Rundle	...	Martha Bradshaw
Hamilton Dyce	...	Detective Inspector Ames
Henry McCarty	...	Dr. Leighton
Tony Wall	...	Logan
Patrick Parnell	...	Cooper
Arlette Dobson	...	Karen

Runtime:

56 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Merton Park Studios

Despite Its Lack of Action, One of the Slickest of Merton Park's Edgar Wallace Series

This movie was theatrically released in Great Britain in September, 1963, and therefore ranks as the only theatrical movie directed by TV producer and director and one-time actor (Brandy for the Parson, Ivanhoe, Laxdale Hall), Lionel Harris. Admittedly it's an over-talkative affair with very little action, even at the long-awaited climax. For all its excessive talk, however, the Edgar Wallace plot is reasonably intriguing, if somewhat implausible.

Director Harris does what he can to improve matters by making effective use of real locations and drawing uniformly competent performances from his players. The film's modest production values have also been well disguised by skilled teamwork behind the camera. Photography, sets, film editing and music scoring are surprisingly slick, especially when measured against the usual humble standards of British TV.