The plot makes no sense at all - just enjoy the acting from John Mills, Derek Farr and others. And the various flats and offices. Derek Farr is a bit of a playboy, and has a modernist flat with a trellis from which to hang flowerpots, modernistic sculpture and tribal art. John Mills's flat has an entrance in a mews, but is huge (mews cottages, converted from stables, are tiny). It also has a view of a Hawksmoor church, instead of the opposite side of the mews. Since his flat is being watched by baddies and the police, he's lucky there is another entrance up a fire escape and through a glass skylight. By the way, although the cast are admittedly middle-class, none of them live in the "suburbs", but in the centre of London, and it's always lovely to see glimpses of the city as it was.
More goofs: Lionel Jeffries turns up at John Mills's consulting room pretending to be a journalist. He asks a lot of questions, but has nothing to write the answers on and takes no notes. John Mills then gets the mysterious phone call from "Charles" to pick up a German actress from a very classy London airport. He is told a lot of information: times, places, addresses, but again takes no notes - he is holding the phone in his right hand, and is right handed.
When he and Lionel get to the airport, he has the actress paged, but then Lionel waves and says the actress has turned up and is in the car. John joins them, without telling the airport girl to stop paging Frieda.
There's a nervous looking woman called Mrs Amber or Ambler who tells a story of finding a corpse with its head bashed in by a brass candlestick on Hampstead Heath which then disappears. Bits of the candlestick keep turning up, and Mrs Ambler keeps changing her story. I have no idea what this has to do with anything.
The police sport enigmatic smiles and seem to know a lot they aren't telling John Mills. I love Francis Durbridge - how did he get away with it for so long? Perhaps it was the sophisticated ambiance - everyone keeps offering each other glasses of whisky and cigarettes from silver boxes.
More goofs: Lionel Jeffries turns up at John Mills's consulting room pretending to be a journalist. He asks a lot of questions, but has nothing to write the answers on and takes no notes. John Mills then gets the mysterious phone call from "Charles" to pick up a German actress from a very classy London airport. He is told a lot of information: times, places, addresses, but again takes no notes - he is holding the phone in his right hand, and is right handed.
When he and Lionel get to the airport, he has the actress paged, but then Lionel waves and says the actress has turned up and is in the car. John joins them, without telling the airport girl to stop paging Frieda.
There's a nervous looking woman called Mrs Amber or Ambler who tells a story of finding a corpse with its head bashed in by a brass candlestick on Hampstead Heath which then disappears. Bits of the candlestick keep turning up, and Mrs Ambler keeps changing her story. I have no idea what this has to do with anything.
The police sport enigmatic smiles and seem to know a lot they aren't telling John Mills. I love Francis Durbridge - how did he get away with it for so long? Perhaps it was the sophisticated ambiance - everyone keeps offering each other glasses of whisky and cigarettes from silver boxes.