Ricochet ** (1963, Maxine Audley, Richard Leech, Alex Scott, Dudley Foster, Patrick Magee) – Classic Movie Review 10,839

Director John Llewellyn Moxey’s 1963 black and white crime film Ricochet stars Richard Leech as British small-time local lawyer Alan Phipps, who hatches a complex revenge plot to secretly blackmail his rich, trampy, cheating wife Yvonne (Maxine Audley) when he finds out that she is having an affair with John Brodie (Alex Scott). The plan is to make it appear that Brodie is the blackmailer and prompt Yvonne to kill him. But, naturally, no good will come of it.

Patrick Magee also stars as Inspector Cummings, investigating murder most foul, in another minor Edgar Wallace filler thriller, based on his 1922 novel, The Angel of Terror.

With the solid acting from the capable cast and a decently twisty little plot and effective handling by Moxey, this is an above-average, quite satisfying entry in the popular, long-running British second-feature film series of 47 Edgar Wallace films, produced at Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated.

Ricochet was released in March 1963.

You can see it was filmed during The Big Freeze of 1963 with all the snow in the exterior shots. The film includes scenes shot at Streatham Ice Arena, south London, opened on 26 February 1931 and closed on 18 December 2011.

Also in the cast are Dudley Foster as Peter Dexter, Frederick Piper as Siddall, Virginia Wetherell as Brenda, Alec Bregonzi as Max, Keith Smith as Porter, Peter Torquill as Sgt. Walters, Anne Godley as Wardress, Nancy Nevinson as Elsie Siddall, William Dysart as First Skater, Barbara Roscoe as Pretty Girl Skater, Maris Tant as Girl Skater and Marian Horton as Waitress.

Titles in the Edgar Wallace series also include The Malpas Mystery (October 1960), We Shall See (April 1964), Never Mention Murder (November 1964) and Dead Man’s Chest (October 1965).

Ricochet is directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, runs 64 minutes, is made by Merton Park Studios, is released by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (1963) (UK), is written by Roger Marshall, based on the novel The Angel of Terror by Edgar Wallace, is shot in black and white by James Wilson, is produced by Jack Greenwood, is scored by Bernard Ebbinghouse and is designed by Peter Mullins.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,839

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