Trent's Last Case [DVD] [1952]

The body of tycoon Sigsbee (yes really - American of course) Manderson is found. The coroner rules it is suicide but newspaperman Trent is not convinced...

So develops a murder mystery in 50s style in Black and White. No explicit violence; this film relies on intrigue and the relationships between characters. It has an exceptional cast with Orson Welles as Sigsbee Manderson (played in flashbacks since his murder starts the film), Margaret Lockwood (best known for The Lady Vanishes) as the deceased's wife, and Michael Wilding as Trent.

It is not a fast-paced film and there is a lot of dialogue but what a welcome change from the "wham-bam" American drivel that predominates these days. Really it is a matter of taste. If you like the genre and style of that era then I think you will enjoy this film which is well made and well acted.

I enjoyed this film immensely, probably because I am a Margaret Lockwood fan and collect as many of her films as I can when they are available.Amazon did not sell it when I searched for it but I managed to find a dealer on Ebay who specialised in the older films and I won the auction."Trent's Last Case" is a cultured British film, from Republic films, from 1952 with an excellent cast who speak with wonderful diction and enunciation before "kitchen sink drama" mesmerised film producers.Herbert Wilcox (Anna Neagle's husband) produced this gripping thriller that keeps you guessing right up to the very end.I will concede that the plot is structured at times a bit like an amateur dramatic society production but this I think gives it its intrinsic charm especially when the principal parts are played by good professional actors.An example is Orson Wells sitting in an armchair and filmed from the rear redolent of a James Bond villain.He only needed to be stroking a white cat on his lap!! Michael Wilding plays his usual debonair self as "Philip Trent" the artistic crime reporter.Margaret Lockwood plays again the pianoforte. This time we have the pleasure of listening to Eileen Joyce (the real pianist) playing the famous Mozart piano concerto no:24 in C minor, larghetto movement.Eileen's other famous film credit was playing the Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto in C minor for "Brief Encounter (1945).Orson as mentioned was fond of Shakespeare's "Othello" and some of this plot is worked into this film.Like "The Third Man" (1949), Orson does not appear until late into the film but he immediately makes his not inconsiderable presence felt as "Sigsbee Manderson".Margaret plays Margaret Manderson his wife.No trouble remembering her name by the cast!John McCallum gives a workmanlike performance as John Marlowe, the secretary to Manderson and Miles Malleson for once leaves aside his clerical garb to play Burton Cupples, Margaret's uncle.What amused me was seeing a very young Kenneth Williams playing a garrulous Welsh gardener!.Obviously being a thriller I will not divulge the plot.Suffice to say it ends happily for all concerned.I rated it four stars.

Having read the book "Trent's Last Case" I was interested to see how it appeared on film. The story has been altered but it was enjoyable