Inspector Hornleigh Series 
                                   
Inspector Hornleigh (1939) – 6.0

 


This is a British film that totters like a drunken sailor between comedy and murder. The sleuthing part is fairly good but the comedy tastes like bangers and mash left too long simmering in the gravy. That may be because the director Eugene Forde is American and Americans can't do British humor. It is unique to the Isles. The product perhaps of a once great empire that is no longer relevant in global affairs. Inspector Hornleigh was first a radio serial that was adapted to the screen for three films. The Inspector is played by Gordon Harker, a well-known character actor and the comedy relief is his bumbling Sergeant played by Alastair Sim. This combination was a well-used trope in American B mysteries.  Though Sim was nearing 40 at this time, he had primarily acted in theater and his great years were ahead in such films as An Inspector Calls, Scrooge and The Lady Killers. He feels ill- cast here as the dimwitted policeman.

 

It begins with a murder in a lodging house and a missing suitcase. Hornleigh and Sgt Bingham are brought in. The Inspector is shown quickly to be quite the Sherlock Holmes and discovers the suitcase and a brief case inside that belongs to the Finance Minister. This leads him to a small hotel with a number of suspects not only to a killing but also the theft of the Minister's papers that would shake the markets if known. The suspects are whittled down by being murdered as well. It moves along quickly and is reasonably clever. Good enough to watch the sequels.
Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday (1939) – 6.0

 

The second of three in the Inspector Hornleigh series. The Inspector (Gordon Harker) goes off on holiday to one of those sad tacky British seaside resorts where it is raining all day and the aged customers sit about playing bridge. Along with him is his Sergeant (Alistair Sim) which might seem odd but even odder is that they share the same room. Of course, whenever a senior policeman goes on vacation, a murder is soon to follow. Hornleigh who was bored out of his mind is very relieved. A murder to sink his teeth into.

 

The victim was a customer at the hotel that the duo had played pool with. He died when his car crashed over a cliff. What follows is a complex criminal exercise involving a widespread conspiracy. There is much less silly comedy than in the first film and what there is is fairly amusing. The Sergeant isn't as inept as before and cross-dressing in a British film is always welcome. Harker and Sim have good chemistry together and go on to make a third film.
Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It (1941) - 6.5

Aka - Mail Train



This third and final film in the Inspector Hornleigh series comes two years after the second one. World events had intruded. WWII. And the film reflects this and is all the better for it. Hornleigh (Gordon Harker) and his Sergeant (Alastair Sim) are still working at Scotland Yard but instead of mere murder that they are investigating, it is a group of Fifth Columnists. Traitors. It is a fine script from Val Guest and Frank Launder (The Lady Vanishes, Night Train to Munich) that generates a surprising amount of suspense. The series evolved in style - the first focusing on low-brow comedy; the second less so and this one keeps it limited to the first act. Harker who was best known for comedy is especially good as the sarcastic sour-faced fast thinking copper who looks like he should be delivering the milk to your door. Sim again is the slightly incompetent comedy relief but keeps it to a minimum and the one comic bit when he has to pretend to be a dentist and take out a tooth isn't bad at all.



This time the two of them are ordered to go undercover in the army and discover who is swiping food from the commissary, but the boys don't stick to that as they get a tip that there are Fifth Columnists in the area. That takes them to a murdered dentist and a seductive wife (Phyllis Calvert) who is in the middle of a network of spies.  Well-paced at 87-minutes and directed by veteran Walter Forde who had directed the second film in the series. All three films are up on YouTube.