Three-part adaptation of the play by Alec Coppel, which had already been turned into a 1939 British film and 1948 TV movie by the BBC, as well as receiving several productions on stage throughout the world. Part of its popularity is due to the gimmick – a Count has been killed (he was a sleazebag so it’s alright), and four different people confess. It also has a light, enjoyable tone and solid structure that is bad actor proof - but the cast here are excellent.
Part one has two big twists – an American (Charles Cooper) in love with the Count’s (Dawson’s) wife confesses, then the wife’s father (Alan Napier) confesses; Part two involves the flashbacks, introduces the wife (Rosemary Harris) and ends with a third person (Melville Cooper) confessing. Part Three involves Cooper’s flashback and they transfer the action to the police station for the last bit, to give it some variety. The wife confesses – but everyone is set free because you can’t charge more than one person for a crime you only think one person committed.
Watching a three-part episode must have been frustrating for regular viewers of the show but I got to see it in one hit. Hitch recaps episode two and three, puffing as he does so – it’s meant to be a joke, in that he’s trying to keep up with the story, but because Hitch is portly it doesn’t really work, you just think he’s unfit.
It’s a very good, faithful adaptation by Francis Cockerill – except for the ending, where we find out the wife did it, albeit accidentally (from what I remember we never found out who did it in the play). Robert Stevens’ direction is strong, even turning flashy at times, such as using extreme close ups when the American explaining how he killed the count. Coppel's plays could sometimes be over-the-top and overly class conscious, but this doesn't feel like that.
It’s got a great cast – John Williams is the investigating police officer, giving gravitas to a role that wasn’t much in the play (it’s a vehicle for him as much as anyone else), plus Napier, Cooper (who seems to be a bit of a psycho, which adds to the suspense), Harris, and Dawson (the slimebag from Dial M for Murder, who plays a slimebag here). Pat Hitchcock plays the maid who discovers the corpse.
One of the best adaptations of a work by Alec Coppel.
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