Escape from Broadmoor

I re-visited "Escape from Broadmoor" (1948) starring John Stuart, John Le Mesurier, Victoria Hopper, Tony Doonan, and others. Written and directed by John Gilling in Britain, this is one of more than thirteen films Gilling wrote and which were made between 1947 and 1950 alone. For a short period he and producer Harry Reynolds had planned to make a series of rather short features (or long shorter films), and "Escape from Broadmoor" is one of them. It times in at 38 minutes.

Broadmoor Hospital is one of three high-secure psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales "internationally renowned for its highly specialised care and research work". John Le Mesurier escaped twenty years ago from this institution after being placed there following a murder charge. He now is after some rubies in a home of Gillie Fenwick, a place where Le Mesurier murdered the maid years before. What he doesn't expect after being there with his partner Doonan is seeing the maid he murdered! And - she seems highly unafraid of Le Mesurier or his gun...

This bit of horror and psychologically macabre substance is the stuff that Gilling went on to write and direct for years afterward, mostly for Hammer Productions. This one still plays very well, thank you. Even though Le Mesurier in his autobiography considers this early film of his trash (it was his first feature film outside of made for television films in early British TV), it most certainly is not trash at all; and, in fact, is recommended for viewing for those who enjoy its genre.