Man Accused *** (1959, Ronald Howard, Carol Marsh, Ian Fleming, Catharina Ferraz, Stuart Saunders, Robert Dorning, Brian Nissen) – Classic Movie Review 13,739

The 1959 British crime drama film Man Accused stars Ronald Howard as an engineer who is arrested for robbery and murder just after he has become engaged to a baronet’s daughter (Carol Marsh).

Director Montgomery Tully’s 1959 British second feature crime film Man Accused is written by Mark Grantham, is produced by The Danzigers, and stars Ronald Howard, Carol Marsh, Ian Fleming, and Catharina Ferraz. 

Carol Marsh stars as Kathy, a rich young English lady and daughter of a kindly baronet (Ian Fleming), who is about to marry charming youngish engineer Bob Jenson (Ronald Howard), upsetting her previous boyfriend Derek (Brian Nissen).

Among the guests at the engagement party are the family solicitor Beckett (Robert Dorning) and an insurance investigator called Curran (Stuart Saunders), who tells Kathy he recognizes Bob, who he says was the prime suspect in the killings of two previous fiancées in South America, where Bob had previously worked, to steal their jewels.

She refuses to believe the story, but later when her costly jewels go missing from the family safe, all the evidence for the theft and also a murder points to Bob. He is arrested but breaks jail to track down the real criminal.

Man Accused is a neat, tidy, brisk and efficient little second feature 1959 British crime drama film, with a satisfactory plot and reasonable dialogue that do hold the attention. The promising setup and twisty middle section are better than the contrived climax (the jail escape scene and Bob’s fist fight with the real criminal are products of simple-minded B-film fantasyland), but overall the film is more than entertaining enough, moving swiftly and capably. In the end the story is entirely far fetched and concocted but nobody expects it to be entirely credible anyway.

Ronald Howard proves a bit weak as the wrongly accused man (or is he?), leaving a small hole at the centre. The police are unconvincingly written, giving actors Colin Tapley as Inspector, Howard Lang as Sergeant and Gordon Needham as constable a very hard time in roles that usually sail along nicely. Catharina Ferraz gives a shaky, very peculiar performance as the family servant/ governess Anna. Is she a suspect or a red herring? And Brian Nissen isn’t much good as the hard drinking, jealous Derek. Is he a suspect or a red herring? So, if the acting is variable, nevertheless Carol Marsh is an excellent damsel in distress, bringing considerable weight and conviction to the movie, and Ian Fleming, Stuart Saunders and Robert Dorning are reliably good.

Release date: 6 November 1959.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,739

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Carol Marsh (born Norma Lilian Simpson; 10 May 1926 – 6 March 2010) is best known as Rose in the 1947 film Brighton Rock., made when she was 21.