Calling Paul Temple *** (1948, John Bentley, Dinah Sheridan, Abraham Sofaer, Margaretta Scott, Celia Lipton, Alan Wheatley, Jack Raine) – Classic Movie Review 4,487

The 1948 British mystery crime thriller film Calling Paul Temple is the welcome, much improved second film in the series of four, based on Francis Durbridge’s film script Paul Temple and the Canterbury Case, and starring John Bentley and Dinah Sheridan.

Director Maclean Rogers’s 1948 British black and white mystery crime thriller film Calling Paul Temple is the welcome, much improved sequel to Send for Paul Temple (1946), based on Francis Durbridge’s film script Paul Temple and the Canterbury Case.

John Bentley stars as novelist-sleuth Paul Temple and Dinah Sheridan plays his glamorous wife Steve in Durbridge’s radio serial story, in which the couple find their lives are in danger after they discover that several female murder victims were all treated by Dr Kohima (Abraham Sofaer), a hypnotist and specialist in nervous disorders.

The ticker collector on a train has found a woman dead with the name Rex written on her compartment’s pull-down blind. It is the third mysterious Rex murder, all on trains, but soon there is a fourth murder, of a singer called Norma Rice (Celia Lipton) in a nightclub, putting an abrupt end to her second number.

Written by Frances Durbridge, A R Rawlinson and Kathleen Butler, this is a zippy and intriguing Thin Man-style cult detective thriller, with a good mystery plot, zesty handling and sparky acting. Taking over from Anthony Hulme and Joy Shelton as Paul Temple and Steve, John Bentley and Dinah Sheridan get much better into the spirit of the sleuthing and the bantering, sharing pretty good chemistry. The support cast and their characters are well conceived and work well.

Abraham Sofaer is an offbeat, creepy presence as Dr Kohima, just as needed. There is some embarrassing stuff involving Shaym Bahadur as Rikki, the Temple couple’s Burmese servant, but we’ll have to let that go. Calling Paul Temple also features Margaretta Scott as Dr Kohima’s sinister assistant Mrs Trevellyan, Alan Wheatley as the stuttering Edward Lathom, and Jack Raine as the lofty, commanding Sir Graham Forbes, Deputy Commissioner of Scotland Yard, all three very good.

Celia Lipton hits the right notes as singer Norma Rice till she is inconveniently cut off in her prime, Ian McLean is solid as Inspector Crane, and Wally Patch is amusing as Spider Williams.

By the way, the Temples are now married and celebrating their first wedding anniversary. They still live in Bramley, but also have a London flat.

There is an idea that the film is based on Francis Durbridge’s BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple Again, broadcast from September to November 1945. But Francis Durbridge’s film script Paul Temple and the Canterbury Case finally appeared in UK cinemas in 1948 under the title Calling Paul Temple. Whatever, the plot is suitably busy, bizarre and labyrinthine, with a rich and strange climax and conclusion. At least it is lively and different. The production is quite impressive for a Brit second feature of its era, and Maclean Rogers knows how to keep it moving and involving.

Also in the cast are Hugh Pryse, Michael Golden, John McLaren, Merle Tottenham, Aubrey Mallalieu, Hugh Miller, and George Merritt.

Calling Paul Temple is directed by Maclean Rogers, runs 88 minutes, is made by Nettlefold Films, is released by Butcher’s Film Service (UK), is written by A R Rawlinson, Kathleen Butler and Francis Durbridge, based on the radio serial Send for Paul Temple Again by Francis Durbridge, is shot in black and white by Geoffrey Faithfull, is produced by Ernest G Roy, is scored by Percival Mackey, and is designed by J Charles Gilbert [C H Gilbert].

Release date: June 1948.

Steve Race writes along with Sid Colin the two pretty good songs performed by Celia Lipton in the nightclub scene, and appears as the pianist.

It is shot at the Nettlefold Film Studios in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, but also with some precious shots of Canterbury, Kent, England.

The second in Nettlefold Films’ four-film Temple series, it is followed by Paul Temple’s Triumph (1950) and Paul Temple Returns (1952).

The cast

The cast are John Bentley as Paul Temple, Dinah Sheridan as Steve Temple, Margaretta Scott as Mrs Trevellyan, Abraham Sofaer as Dr Kohima, Celia Lipton as Norma Rice, Jack Raine as Deputy Commissioner Sir Graham Forbes, Alan Wheatley as Edward Lathom, Hugh Pryse as Wilfred Davies, Wally Patch as Spider Williams, Shaym Bahadur as Rikki, Michael Golden as Frank Chester, Harry Herbert as Boatman, Aubrey Mallalieu as Waiter at The Falcon Inn, John McLaren as Leo Brent, Ian McLean as Inspector Crane, George Merritt as Ticket Inspector, Mary Midwinter as Carol Reagan, Hugh Miller as Doctor, Steve Race as the pianist, Gerald Rex as Bert (boy in boat), Maureen Glynne as girl in boat, Paul Sheridan as Maitre d`Hotel, Marion Taylor as Esther van Ralston, Merle Tottenham as Millie, Michael Ward as Passer-by.

It was digitally remastered by Renown Pictures in 2009 and screens on the UK’s Talking Pictures TV.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,487

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