Doctor Morelle

Doctor Morelle is a 1949 British mystery film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Valentine Dyall, Peter Drury and Hugh Griffith.[2] It is also known by two alternative titles: Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress or simply The Case of the Missing Heiress.[3] It was made by Hammer Films, based on the popular long running BBC radio series written by Ernest Dudley and starring Cecil Parker.[4][5] Dudley also wrote many novels and short stories featuring the character of Morelle.[6]

Doctor Morelle
Directed byGodfrey Grayson
Written byWilfred Burr (play)
Ambrose Grayson
Roy Plomley
Produced byAnthony Hinds
StarringValentine Dyall
Peter Drury
Hugh Griffith
Julia Lang
CinematographyCedric Williams
Edited byRay Pitt
Music byRupert Grayson
Frank Spencer
Production
company
Distributed byExclusive Films (UK)
Release date
  • 27 June 1949 (1949-06-27) (UK)
Running time
73 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$56,000[1]

Plot

Private detective Doctor Morelle, who is intrigued by a case of a wealthy young woman who has mysteriously vanished, visits her gloomy mansion to investigate...

Cast

Reception

The Radio Times noted "The first (and last) of an intended series based on a popular radio detective, this undistinguished B-feature murder mystery is typical of the early postwar output of Hammer before it discovered horror...Dyall has considerable presence but it's not enough to surmount the implausible plot"[7] and Sky Movies wrote, "Each week from 1942 on, millions of radio listeners thrilled to the creepy adventures that presented 'the secret papers of perhaps the strangest personality in the history of criminal investigation. The mysterious Dr Morelle and his always-in-peril Girl Friday, Miss Frayle, were a natural for films but, as with so many other popular radio sleuths, the British Cinema failed to do right by them even though the slightly sinister Valentine Dyall was perfect casting as the detective doctor."[4]

References
  1. Tom Johnson and Deborah Del Vecchio, Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography, McFarland, 1996 p36
  2. "Doctor Morelle The Case of the Missing Heiress (1949)". Archived from the original on 30 May 2008.
  3. "Dr. Morelle - the Case of the Missing Heiress (1949) - Godfrey Grayson - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  4. "Dr Morelle and the Case of the Missing Heiress".
  5. "Ernest Dudley". Independent.co.uk. 4 February 2006.
  6. Bernstein, Marcelle (7 May 2006). "W Ernest Dudley". The Guardian.
  7. "Dr Morelle - the Case of the Missing Heiress - Film from RadioTimes".


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