The Court Martial of Major Keller ** (1961, Laurence Payne, Susan Stephen, Ralph Michael) – Classic Movie Review 13,601

The 1961 British second feature The Court Martial of Major Keller stars Laurence Payne as a British army officer facing a court martial for murder during the Second World War. 

Director Ernest Morris’s 1961 British second feature thriller film The Court Martial of Major Keller stars Laurence Payne, Susan Stephen, and Ralph Michael.

Laurence Payne plays British army officer Major Keller having to face a Court Martial for allegedly killing his commanding officer during the Second World War. His defence? He alleges the CO was a defector he was forced to shoot before he reached the enemy.

It perhaps lacks enough excitement and tension, but some acceptable acting enlivens this low-budget, though tolerable, reasonably taut courtroom thriller from The Danzigers, with a decent, literate script by Brian Clemens.

Susan Stephen also stars as Laura Winch and Ralph Michael plays Colonel Winch.

Cast: Laurence Payne, Susan Stephen, Ralph Michael, Richard Caldicot, Basil Dignam, Austin Trevor, Simon Lack, Peter Vaughan, Jack McNaughton, Hugh Cross, Peter Sinclair, Humphrey Lestocq,

The Court Martial of Major Keller is directed by Ernest Morris, runs 69 minutes, is made by Danziger Productions, is released by Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK), is written by Brian Clemens, is shot in black and white by James Wilson [Jimmy Wilson], is produced by Harry Lee Danziger and Edward J Danziger, is scored by Bill LeSage, and is designed by Norman Arnold.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,601

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