JIGSAW

This is an obscure British film from 1962, an adaptation of an American police procedural crime novel, transposed to Brighton.

The film starts with a woman who is having an affair being murdered by her lover, and the film then shows us the police investigation over the next couple of days which culminates in the arrest of the guilty party.  

Given that the investigation itself is not inherently dramatic the film needs the murder mystery to be memorable (it isn't) or the lead detective to be someone we want to spend time with (he's played by dull Jack Warner, so that's a 'no') or the writer and director Val Guest to find ways to make the story dramatic (he doesn't).

To be fair, the screenplay does its best to make the various members of the public who come into view interesting and Guest does find ways to keep the story moving along at a decent clip.  In fact part of the problem is that the film's pace is quite relentless - a few pauses here and there so that we can take stock of where the investigation has got to wouldn't go amiss.

The only scene that stood out for me at all is when the parents of the dead woman learn the sad news; John Le Mesurier as the father is especially good.

On the other hand the actress who plays a key role (who just happens to be Guest's wife) is not very good.