Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Three Cases of Murder (1955).

As the title indicates, there are three segments to Three Cases of Murder. "In the Picture" (from a story by Scottish writer Roderick Wilkinson) features a painting with supernatural elements. "You Killed Elizabeth" (from a 1951 story by Davis Dresser, aka Brett Halliday) involves two friends competing over a woman, who is subsequently killed. Orson Welles directs (and is the title character) "Lord Mountdrago" (from a story by Somerset Maugham), in which the tormented Welles grapples with the effects of his cruelty on a politician colleague.

3 comments:

Todd Mason said...

One which I'm always ready to recommend, even if the first segment is clearly the strongest (genuinely manages to disturb, even given the relatively goofy nature of the threat--because there's utter commitment on the part of the production), the middle rather pleasantly mediocre. Welles clearly has fun in the final one.

Elizabeth Foxwell said...

The critics I've read have all liked different segments (trashing the first, for example, to champion the second). Perhaps it depends on the sort of mystery that is enjoyed by the particular critic.

Todd Mason said...

Well, of course, only the central story is remotely what we usually think of as a mystery, as opposed to horror, even if the first and particularly the third are rather jocular horror.