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Smokescreen (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Smokescreen' is a 1964 British crime drama film, written and directed by Jim O'Connolly and starring Peter Vaughan.
Plot
Mr Roper, an insurance investigator, travels to Brighton to assess the apparent death of a businessman after his burning car was seen crashing over a cliff into the sea. The insurance company is suspicious, as the man had only recently taken out life insurance for a large sum. The car is recovered and no body is found. Roper and the police have to find out whether they are dealing with an accident, an insurance fraud or a murder.
Cast
* Peter Vaughan as Roper
* John Carson as Trevor Bayliss
* Yvonne Romain as Janet Dexter
* Gerald Flood as Graham Turner
* Glynn Edwards as Inspector Wright
* John Glyn-Jones as Player
* Sam Kydd as Hotel waiter
* Deryck Guyler as Station master (as Derek Guyler)
* Penny Morrell as Helen, Turner's secretary
* David Gregory as the Smudger
* Jill Curzon as June
* Barbara Hicks as Miss Breen
* Bert Palmer as Barman
* Tom Gill as Reception clerk
* Edward Ogden as Police Sergeant
* Anthony Dawes as John Dexter
* Romo Gorrara as Taxi Driver
* Maja Hafernik as Mrs Dexter's Maid
* Derek Francis as Dexter's doctor (uncredited)
* Damaris Hayman as Mrs Roper's nurse (uncredited)
Critical reception
According to the 'Radio Times' reviewer: "this above-average programme filler has a passable plot (involving a little bit of skulduggery in suburban Brighton) that's kept moving swiftly and painlessly by director Jim O'Connolly...Vaughan plays with a dogged determination that is efficient, engaging and quite at odds with the more sinister characterisations he would essay later in his career". 'BFI Screenonline' described the film as "an utterly charming B-film comedy-thriller that emphasises character as much as plot and makes full use of extensive location footage."
The film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane selected 'Smokescreen' as one of the 15 most meritorious British B films made between the Second World War and 1970. They describe it as an "uncommonly neat little insurance racket-cum-murder thriller" and praise the way that its comic relief is "built into the fabric of the film's main narrative action".Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane, 'The British 'B' Film', Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, pp. 28688.
Locations
The opening scenes were shot in London, but much of the rest of the film was shot on location in West Sussex and East Sussex, including the Brighton area. The scene featuring Deryck Guyler as the station master was shot at Hellingly railway station, which has since been closed.
References
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