The Voice of Merrill – 1952 | 83 mins | Drama, Thriller | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Hammer veteran John Gilling constructs an ingenious but confusing thriller concerning three people who become implicated in the murder of a young female blackmailer. The suspense mounts to a dramatic climax that’s almost as much a surprise as the high quality of this low-budget film. Gilling’s direction fails to unravel the convoluted script or sustain suspense, and apart from James Robertson Justice’s abhorrent author, the remainder of the acting talent is at best workmanlike.

The murder of a blackmailing secretary brings forth three main suspects. The three under suspicion are the girl’s publisher employer; Ronald Parker (Henry Kendall); Jonathan Roach (James Robertson Justice), a skilful established writer; and his frustrated wife Alycia Roach (Valerie Hobson.) Jonathan is a literary snob who disdains everything and everybody, and when his wife Alycia meets struggling mystery writer Hugh Allen (Edward Undertown), she is propelled into an affair by her loveless marriage. She proceeds to help him Hugh with his ascending career through a series of B.B.C. broadcasts really written by her unwitting and terminally ill husband. Meanwhile, the police, led by Inspector Thornton (Garry Marsh), are still investigating the murder. When Jonathan dies in suspicious circumstances, Hugh tells his lover that he will confess to the murder – she tries to stop him.