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Murder in Eden (film)

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Murder in Eden
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMax Varnel
Written byH.E. Burden
Based ona story by John Haggarty
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyWalter J. Harvey
Edited byRobert Jordan Hill (as Robert Hill)
Music byWilfred Burns
Production
companies
Bill and Michael Luckwell Ltd.
Distributed byJ. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (UK)
Running time
63 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Murder in Eden is a 1961 British mystery film directed by Max Varnel and starring Ray McAnally, Catherine Feller and Yvonne Buckingham.[1] It was written by H. E. Burden based on a story by John Haggarty.

An art critic is murdered and a reporter helps Scotland Yard hunt for the killer.[2]

Plot

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The Woolf Art Gallery is promoting an exhibition of paintings under the title "The Garden of Eden". A man stares intently at a picture of Eve forming one of a pair representing Adam and Eve by a Dutch artist Van Meerwick. After he discovers a famous painting is fake, a noted art critic is killed by a hit-and-run driver. Inspector Peter Sharkey of Scotland Yard joins forces with French magazine reporter Geneviève Beaujean to investigate.

Geneviève spends a lot of time at the gallery. It is revealed she is not a real reporter. The police find a portfolio belonging to the dead man. It states the best forger is Michael Lucas but his work is revealed by the use of zinc white.

Michael Lucas has the real Eve hidden in a secret room in his seaside villa. He has promised to sell it to Bill Robson and shows him the secret room. Geneviève listens to them chat from the secret room. She has a gun. The police arrive and hear her crying.

Cast

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Critical reception

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The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "What with unapt dialogue, tangled construction, melodramatic playing and unconvincing art work, direction as clumsy as is Max Varnel's here could scarcely make matters worse. The thinly disguised Irish accents of many of the cast and the wholesale use of Georgian Dublin exteriors for a thriller ostensibly set in London add an extra layer of unreality to the bogus art world portrayed."[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Murder in Eden". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Murder in Eden (1962) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. ^ "Murder in Eden". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 28 (324): 131. 1 January 1961 – via ProQuest.
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