The
lowdown: 'To Have and To Hold' was the 32nd film in a
series of low-budget features based on the novels of
crime writer Edgar Wallace.
A total of 47 films were made by Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated
between
1960 and 1965 and shown
in theatres, usually as a second feature. The series was subsequently broadcast
on US
television under the title
of 'The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre', where it was shown as the fourth
episode of the
sixth season, in July 1963.
The pictures and video clips were taken from an ageing VHS copy of the
US series, so
the quality is not that
good.
The
episode: Ray Barrett stars as Henry Fraser, a police sergeant
who is assigned the case of Claudia Matthews
(Katharine Blake), who is
convinced that a former boyfriend wants to kill her. She claims that he
has been demanding
to see her, but she refused
as she is now married to a man named George. Claudia tells Fraser that
the ex-boyfriend
is violent and had tried
to drown her when she told him that she was marrying someone else. Claudia
is upset and
reluctant to stay in her
home alone while her husband is away, so Fraser spends the evening with
her, and meets her
again for lunch the next
day. They begin spending a lot of time together, but when she is brutally
murdered in her flat,
Inspector Roberts (William
Hartnell), takes Fraser off the case, fearing that he has become too personally
involved.
Roberts orders him to take
two weeks' leave, and specifies that he is not to get involved in the case,
but Roberts is
convinced that he can find
Claudia's killer. His investigations lead him to Claudia's twin sister,
Pauline. He soon falls
in love with Pauline, but
soon learns that not all is as it seems. As the story reaches its climax,
Fraser learns that he
has been a pawn in a complex
game of murder and insurance fraud.
The
verdict: 'To Have and To Hold' is an old-fashioned murder-mystery
that will please fans of the genre. Given that it
is over 40 years old, the
story stands up quite well and should keep most viewers entertained for
the 70 minutes running
time. (I will not give away
too many plot details, as they are definitely spoilers for people who have
not seen the film -
and given that it was made
over 40 years ago, that would be most of the people reading this!). The
acting is very good,
especially from Ray Barrett
and Katharine Blake, although William Hartnell is sadly underused - in
one of his last roles
before stepping into a certain
police box. As one would expect, the production values are quite low, but
given the age of
the film, it is great that
it even exists to watch today!
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