Moment of Indiscretion *** (1958, Ronald Howard, Lana Morris, John Van Eyssen, Denis Shaw, Ann Lynn) – Classic Movie Review 13,848

The suspenseful and commendably acted 1958 British second feature crime drama film Moment of Indiscretion stars Ronald Howard, Lana Morris, John Van Eyssen, Denis Shaw, and Ann Lynn.

Director Max Varnel’s suspenseful and commendably acted 1958 British second feature crime drama film Moment of Indiscretion stars Ronald Howard, Lana Morris, John Van Eyssen, Denis Shaw, and Ann Lynn. It is written by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard, and is produced by The Danzigers.

Lana Morris stars as Janet Miller, a married woman who fails to report to the police that she has witnessed a man stabbing a woman to death, and is then charged with murder. She made a secret, one-off, supposedly innocent assignation with one-time fiance Eric (John Stone), who still loves her. Janet is charged after her monogrammed handkerchief and spare house key, dropped in a panic, are discovered at the crime scene, the stairway of the same building where she has met her ex-fiancé for a platonic goodbye as he leaves England for ever. Ronald Howard also stars as her jealous lawyer husband John, who is understandably rattled by his wife’s lies and breaking her promise never to see her ex again, but nevertheless rallies round to try to track down the real killer.

This neat, complicated thriller is highly improbable but still compelling, with adept handling by director Max Varnel and, above all, excellent performances from several fine actors, all playing unsympathetic characters sympathetically. Denis Shaw’s overweight but still nimble police inspector is an especially fine characterisation, extremely brusque and only partly smart, but very honest and sincere. Lana Morris is very stylish as the lovely but rather foolish (not to mention disloyal) wife who is happy to deceive her husband about seeing her old fiance one last time to say goodbye for ever. It’s hard not to say that Janet had it coming.

Ronald Howard is smoulderingly strong as the pipe-smoking, violence-erupting lawyer husband, wronged by the wife, since she tells a number of lies to him and plunges them both into a terrible mess, a victim maybe, committed by love to the wife and solving her plight, but still not a very nice man at all. John Van Eyssen is deliciously creepy as the villain, a murder-inclined cheesecake photographer, and Ann Lynn hard as nails as the model who offers him his alibi in return for custom-made emeralds. Yes, it’s a complex web that screenwriters Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard weave.

John Stone’s role as Eric Stanton is just a sketch, more of a device than a character, so the actor can’t do much. Mark Singleton does his best to keep dignified as the gay stereotype assistant eagerly helping the lawyer in the jeweller’s shop. It is 1958, so we can’t expect much else.

The murder is well staged (Janet mostly sees the killer from above and behind but he turns round just long enough for her to be able to recognise him later) and there several tense and suspenseful scenes, with some nice exterior shots, along the way to a slightly rushed and unconvincing conclusion. With mystery solved, there’s no time for the couple to patch their differences either with each other or the inspector. A sudden happy ending! Ha! It’s one of those second features where 71 minutes isn’t quite enough running time for the plot. It’s a 90-minute film squashed into 71 minutes. so it has no time to get dull or boring, but not enough time to be fully satisfying.

Overall, Moment of Indiscretion is excellent and enjoyable, and above-par for the British second feature course. There’s a mood to put down The Danzigers, or even scoff at their films, but just look at this one, as exhibit A in their defence.

The cast are Ronald Howard as John Miller, Lana Morris as Janet Miller, John Stone as Eric Stanton, Denis Shaw as Inspector Marsh, Piers Keelan as Detective Sergeant Field, John Witty as Brian, John Van Eyssen as Corby, Ann Lynn as Pauline, Totti Truman Taylor as Mrs Cartier, Robert Dorning as Mr Evans, Mark Singleton as the jeweller, Judy Bruce as Vicki.

Release: September 1958 (UK).

Janet does briefly see the murderer’s face, so that is not a discrepancy. But why the pawnshop ticket is dated February 1956 is a mystery. Just a handy prop probably.

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,848

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