1938: A blazing caravan is discovered in Edgware with a burned and unrecognisable body inside. The Yard, led by Superintendent Ellis (played by Alan Robinson), identify the man as a printer called George Buxton since the remains of his suitcase with his name printed on it was discovered among the wreckage. In reality, Buxton (played by Alexander Gauge) murdered an elderly taxidermist called Arthur Cox (played by Edgar Driver), one of his customers, for his £30,000 football pools winnings. He burnt his body, stole his identification and successfully claimed his prize money. Buxton then fled to a seaside town on the south coast of England where he cashed the cheque and requested the money be converted into bearer bonds, thus making it easier to abscond with it. However, Buxton made three fatal mistakes that would finally lead to his downfall. First, he assumed that his diary containing a list of his clients had been destroyed in the blaze, but its remains were recovered and forensics were able to decipher some of the names and addresses contained in it. Secondly, Buxton didn't bank on the fact that Cox had not ticked the no publicity box on his football pools entry form and, lastly, he did not foresee that his victim had split the stakes and agreed to split the winnings with a friend - in writing. This friend goes to the police who, armed with this information, are able to track Buxton down and prove that he is not whom he claims to be...
Efficient, brisk paced and entertaining crime featurette from the long running series of cinema programme fillers. Edgar Lustgarten's narration is cleverly dubbed over the murderer's movements during and after he has done the deed as he goes over and over his scheme in his mind panicking that he might have overlooked some minor detail whilst trying to reassure himself that he did not. The actor, Gauge, does the mime of all his character's various emotions and body language whilst Lustgarten asks the questions as if he is reading the man's mind unknown to him. This creates some tension and some amusement since Lustgarten, with considerable relish, puts in his own exclamations like "That's what you think, Mr - what was it? Oh, Yes! Cox". There is a strong feeling for place and period thanks to excellent b/w camerawork and set design. Especially impressive is the murder victim's lonely, dark and dingy studio with its sinister looking stuffed animals and skeletons. This is carefully photographed with clever use of light and shadow to create a chilling, macabre effect. It is snappily edited and well-acted by a competent cast, although most of them will not be familiar to a contemporary audience. The direction is by Ken Hughes, who will be familiar to film buffs and cinemagoers, since he went on to become a major film maker after cutting his teeth on shorts and 'B'-pics like this.
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