MODEL FOR MURDER

 

MODEL FOR MURDER is a 1959 low-budget British film that reminds one of the many B pictures made by Hammer Films in the early 1950s. This movie features several performers associated with Hammer: Hazel Court (THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN), and Michael Gough, George Benson, and Barbara Archer, who all appeared in HORROR OF DRACULA. 

MODEL FOR MURDER also has a somewhat dull American male lead in Keith Andes, a factor that was a constant in many low-budget British would-be noirs and crime stories in the 1950s. Andes plays David Martens, a merchant seaman who has come to England to clear up some issues involving his late brother. Andes becomes involved with Sally (Hazel Court), who happens to work in the design department at the same couture house that his brother's ex-girlfriend models for. The ex-girlfriend is killed during a jewel robbery at the modeling establishment, and Martens is framed for the crimes. Sally helps Martens to clear his name. 

The best aspect of MODEL FOR MURDER is its cast. The movie itself lasts about 70 minutes, and it's not all that thrilling. The viewer is shown what happens during the robbery/murder, which means the only suspenseful element is how Martens is going to get out of his predicament. It doesn't help that Keith Andes takes a very low-key approach. Instead of a man desperate to prove his innocence, he comes off as someone who is mildly annoyed by the situation. Why the appealing Hazel Court (who looks better than the models that she works alongside) immediately falls for Martens and does everything she can to help him is the real mystery. 

Michael Gough does what he can to enliven things, as he gives another of his slimy, sardonic portrayals as the man who runs the couture house. (Could you imagine a sitcom revolving around a modeling house with Gough as the unctuous owner??) Patricia Jessel (CITY OF THE DEAD) is a grande dame fashion designer who acts very suspicious, but winds up being just a red herring. 

Terry Bishop directed MODEL FOR MURDER. Bishop did a lot of TV work during the same period, and this film feels very much like an hour long episode of a series. (There's even some "cute" music on the soundtrack during what is supposed to be some lighthearted moments.) The entire movie has a very perfunctory feel to it, and it wastes a promising cast. If you want to know how a crime story set in a modeling house should really be presented, go check out Mario Bava's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE.