Murder In
Mind
(ITC Movie title "Murder In Mind")
Original UK transmission: 19th May 1973
Original US transmission: ? 1973
WRITTEN BY: Brian Clemens
DIRECTED BY: Alan Gibson
PRODUCED BY: John Sichel
MAIN CAST: Richard Johnson (George Drew), Zena Walker (Betty
Drew), Donald Gee (Tom Patterson), Ronald Radd (Superintendent
Terson), Robert Dorning (Doctor Sammers), Christina Greatrex
(Jill Pembury), Anthony Boden (Sergeant Frost)
Teaser
Sequence
The camera pans through the
grounds of an expensive looking residence; inside, a middle-aged
woman is standing with an alarmed look on her face, as though
listening intently. A poker drops from her hand as she rushes
outside to the car, tearing off at breakneck speed. At a quiet
police station, one constable is ribbing another about his
promotion to detective while his target bemoans the lack of
worthy cases. At this point the woman stumbles in with a dazed
look on her face, saying that she has committed a murder in her
house. The two policeman ask her where she lives but she has no
memory; as one calls the local doctor, he reflects "Well,
I've no idea who she is...neither has she".
Plot
Summary
Betty Drew stumbles into a
police station in a confused state, relating an elaborate story
of how she has just murdered a girl in cold blood with her
husband. Despite the interest of one of the younger detectives,
it soon becomes clear that she has been in a minor car accident
and is in fact the wife of famous murder mystery author George
Drew. Her story is dismissed but Betty, still in an amnesiac
state, feels certain that a murder did take place. When the young
detective takes a gamble and decides to believe her story, it
looks as though the deception will be unmasked. However, not
everything is as it seems and it soon transpires that perhaps the
murder has not already taken place, but is actually waiting to
happen.
Comments
The character of Betty Drew may not be the most engaging of
personas but that doesn't detract from this ingenious twist on
the "whodunnit" theme, where one is left to guess not
the killer but the actual murder victim. The idea of making Drew
amnesiac was inspired, as it leads one to ponder throughout
whether there has even been a murder in the first place. Richard
Johnson plays the part of her famous husband with just the right
air of detachment, so that one is never quite sure of his
feelings towards his neurotic wife.
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