Dead Man's Evidence

Dead Man's Evidence is a 1962 British black-and-white crime thriller "B" film directed by Francis Searle, starring Conrad Phillips and Jane Griffiths.^[1] The screenplay was by Arthur La Bern. A British spy is sent to Ireland to investigate the death of a former colleague who defected.

Dead Man's Evidence
Film poster
Directed by	Francis Searle
Screenplay by	Arthur La Bern
Produced by	Francis Searle
Starring	Conrad Phillips Jane Griffiths Veronica Hurst
Cinematography	Ken Hodges
Edited by	Jim Connock
Music by	Ken Thorne
Production company	Bayford Films
Distributed by	British Lion Film Corporation
Release date	3 September 1962 (1962-09-03) (UK)
Running time	67 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Cast

• Conrad Phillips as David Baxter
• Jane Griffiths as Linda Howard
• Veronica Hurst as Gay Clifford
• Ryck Rydon as Mark Fallon
• Godfrey Quigley as Superintendent O'Brien
• Bruce Seton as Colonel James Somerset
• Harry Webster as Andy
• Maureen Halligan as Mrs Mac
• Laurie Leigh as Pat
• Tommy Duggan as Mr Casey
• Alex Macintosh as Paul Kay
• Frank Sieman as barman
• Middleton Woods as Kim
• Fergus O'Kelly as night porter
• Gordon Waine as hotel waiter
• Sonia Fox as hotel receptionist

Production

The film was made at MGM British Studios, Borehamwood.^[1]

Critical reception

In a contemporary review Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Though the mystery is too tangled to unravel itself satisfactorily in the limited running time, Arthur La Bern's script scatters its red herrings ingeniously, and the acting is entirely adequate to its demands, with Alex Mackintosh and Veronica Hurst giving especially adroit performances as an astute reporter-photographer team. Essentially light-weight, it does not discredit the new effort to raise the quality of second features that is one of the more encouraging signs in the British cinema these days."^[2]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "This provides a sobering insight into how the rest of the British film industry was handling espionage thrillers while Terence Young was making Dr No [1962]. With his heyday as TV's William Tell already behind him, Conrad Phillips stars as a spy sent to investigate when the body of a defector is washed up on an Irish beach. The direction is as perfunctory as the script."^[3]