Murder Without Crime

A fantastically entertaining story of twists and turns on the way to poetic justice, J. Lee Thompson’s directorial debut, Murder Without Crime, based on his own successful stage play, packs a single night with every mood and innovation. Derek Farr stars as the unhappily married Stephen, who storms out after an argument with his wife Jan (Patricia Plunkett), gets drunk at the Tenerife Club, and strikes up a conversation with sexy “hostess” Grena (Joan Dowling). With Jan having left town, Stephen takes Grena to his home where tempers flare and Stephen ends up killing her. Stunned, he hides her body in an ottoman when his nosy landlord Matthew (Dennis Price), having heard loud noises, comes upstairs to “borrow a book.” From this point, the film shifts to a psychological power struggle between the two men, which escalates when Matthew reveals his love for Jan. For a film lasting just 78 minutes, and despite a slightly annoying voice-over that tries too hard to sound American, the plot twists and shocks without ever straining credulity, and just when you fear it might end with an “it was all a dream” cop-out, it revs up again. Price plays the landlord as nosy, patronizing, disdainful, effeminate, and manipulative, stroking the tip of his walking stick slowly and suspiciously across the ottoman, and it’s all a thrill to watch. Most impressive, however, is how Thompson turns a stage play into a dynamic — at times frenetic — suspense drama using an abundance of tricks: extreme close-ups, deep focus, rapid cross-cutting, overhead angles, chiaroscuro lighting, and a score that alternates between smooth diegetic jazz and the rise and crescendo of a strings orchestra.