THE ECHO MURDERS (1945)

This 70 minute film set during WWII is part mystery, part spy/action movie and is so crammed with incident that I'm not sure I got all the details right in my notes, but here's what I think happened:  Duncan is a wealthy man who owns a mine on the coast of Cornwall. Someone is setting off explosions at the mine in hopes of getting him to sell the land. He's also being blackmailed by his slimy secretary Rainsford who wants to marry Duncan's daughter Stella, who is interested in another worker, Warren. Duncan dismisses Warren, trying to blame the mine's problems on him, but Warren remains committed to Stella. Meanwhile, someone badly wants to get his hands on the mine plans which are kept in Duncan's safe. Feeling besieged, Duncan records a Dictaphone message asking detective Sexton Blake for help. He sends off the wax cylinder, but an intruder kills him that night. Did I mention the apparent suicide of a man named Fox who jumped or was pushed off a cliff? Or the two suspicious men who were confederates of Fox, one of whom, while casing the house to get to the safe, saw Duncan murdered? And when Blake arrives, one more puzzle piece is presented: an eccentric neighbor named Beales who heads up a local Health & Strength club, though he doesn't seem all that healthy himself. Beales' property is right above a big echoey cave on the beach where Fox's body was found, and where other odd things occur. Soon there will be another murder meant to look like a suicide, and even Blake himself will be tortured and reported dead before the culprits are caught in an explosion of guns and fisticuffs.

Sexton Blake is a pulp fiction detective and adventurer; his address on Baker Street might lead you to believe that he's a Sherlock Holmes knock-off, but based on the two Blake movies I've seen—the earlier one is reviewed here—Blake is far more of a man of action than Holmes. This film has action galore, of the B-movie variety, and even though the plot is convoluted, I could keep up with enough of it to stay interested. For most of the film's running time, you're not quite sure who's good and who's bad, or at least bad enough to commit murder and possibly be plotting with Nazis. There's even a few clever lines. Someone refers to the health society as "all orange juice and sandals," and a Cornwall cop tells Blake he's actually excited about all the fuss: "Murder is like a breath of fresh air." David Farrar, best known as the troublesome hunk in BLACK NARCISSUS, is quite good as Blake—he also played Blake in the earlier MEET SEXTON BLAKE which I hope to catch soon. The only other actor of note in the cast is Dennis Price (memorable in KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS) as Warren, but he spends a good chunk of the movie languishing in jail. Otherwise, the acting is typical for a B-film of the era. Enjoyable. [Amazon streaming]