Salute the Toff (1952) - 5.0
Aka - Brighthaven Express
John Creasey who wrote all those Inspector West, Inspector Gideon, The Baron,
Dr. Palfrey and loads of other novels also managed to find the time to write
sixty Toff novels (none of which seem to be digital). He must have written
faster than I can think. The Toff was one of those upper-class chaps who
could mingle with the common working class man as well as the hoi-polloi.
He seems to be independently wealthy and solves crimes as a hobby. There
is of course the manservant named Jolly who proves very useful and a Scotland
Yard Inspector who isn't. On his calling card is the silhouette of a man
in a top hat and tails with a long cigarette holder in his hand. At least
in the film he has none of these accessories. He just carries around a big
smile and charm, played here by John Bentley who was also Paul Temple in
that series. This one only lasted two films. These films plus the Paul Temple
films were directed by MacLean Rogers, who helmed over 80 films, very few
if any which you would have heard of. He was a British B film maker. Nothing
too fancy but he keeps them to about an hour in length and keeps them moving.
A young attractive woman (Carol Marsh) comes to him and asks him to help
find her missing boss. He has been gone for four days. They go to check his
apartment and there is a dead body inside - but not the boss. All sorts of
people seem to be involved in some criminal enterprise but what doesn't become
apparent till the end. Among all of this is a crime reporter who keeps showing
up. Played by Arthur Hill later to be Owen Marshall at Law with the exact
same distinct voice he had 20 years later. Hill who has been a favorite of
mine for years was Canadian and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force during
WW2. He later came back to England and began his acting career there. It
always seems odd hearing his American accent in these British films.
An ok film but too dependent on hunches and at times the Toff is a little
off - such as leaving his door open so that a murderer can walk in and kill
his witness. We all make mistakes of course. Lots of characters and even
a nice French song is performed at a nightclub that has nothing to do with
the film. The next one is Hammer the Toff made in the same year.
Hammer the Toff
(1952) - 5.5
A quick follow-up to Salute the Toff from the same year and for the most
part the same sets. Even some of the same extras. The Toff frequents an East
End bar to pick up information and in both films they had the same black
actors in there drinking. His apartment, this bar, a nightclub and a house
were all used in the same films. Of course, the producers were not counting
on an audience seeing them both in the same day 70 years later! This is a
slight improvement for me over the first primarily because of the actress
opposite him - Patricia Dainton, a lovely blonde elegant British actress
who never rose above B films but was Paul Temple's wife in Paul Temple Returns
with John Bentley, who is the Toff. The Toff is very similar to Temple and
to some degree The Saint and other gentleman who have turned their attention
to solving crimes. Amateur sleuths who always outsmart the police. Not that
difficult a thing to do in this case.
The Toff is brought into it when someone takes a shot at him in a moving
train and Susan (Dainton) happens to be in the same rail car. Those were
the old days of assassins - a fellow has to get a call in a telephone box
saying which car to shoot in - race to the position - tell the assassin and
have him take a shot. Turns out they were not aiming at the Toff but at the
man Susan was supposed to be traveling with - another one of those scientists
with a secret formula for something that the other side wants. The
Toff of course has to jump into the mix and finds himself up against the
Hammer - a notorious criminal who used to steal from the rich and give to
the poor but who seemingly has turned to murder. Or has he. In most films
when the villain has a secret identity you can guess who it is by the time
it is revealed. Good luck this time.
