Murder in Reverse? (1945)

This is definitely not just one of the better Monty Tully thrillers but also one of William Hartnell's more characterful performances as we retro-fit a murder conviction. We know "Masterick" has been charged and convicted of murder, but has luckily been spared the black hat. Now, fifteen years later and released from His Majesty's hospitality, he decides to prove his innocence. He's been away for quite a while so picking up this very cold trail isn't going to be easy, especially as his former wife "Doris" (Chili Bouchier) hasn't exactly been hanging around for him. The commutation of his sentence was largely down to the intervention of a local journalist who has now risen to be the editor of his paper. "Sullivan" (Brefni O'Rorke), who also adopted his daughter (Petula Clark who morphs, seamlessly, into Dinah Sheridan), agrees to assign the pretty hopeless "Rogers" (Jimmy Hanley) to help him out and soon we begin to wonder if anything was quite as it appeared all these years ago. It doesn't takes us very long to put the puzzle together, but as we do there's enough intrigue with decent acting and writing to pass eighty minutes without much effort and though I doubt you'll recall this for long afterwards, it's quite an amiable watch.