Part 4 - My top five crime films from the 1940s which have influenced my style of writing

In this, the fourth article of this series of blogs I continue to reveal five films that have influenced me and my style of writing.  There are so many great films to choose from that I have selected five from the 1940s.

My first was The Big Sleep, written by Raymond Chandler, with the film starring the wonderful Humphrey Bogart and lovely Lauren Bacall.  The second was another classic Raymond Chandler crime novel, Farewell my Lovely, which was re titled for the film in the USA as Murder My Sweet.  The film featured a different Marlowe but an equally great actor who gives a perfect performance, Dick Powell.  My third selection was another private eye but this time not based on a Chandler novel. Dark Corner, starring Mark Stevens, Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb and William Bendix..

Now it's time to switch to a British film and a more light-hearted one but still crime, of course, Green for Danger.

Green for Danger (1946)

Green for Danger is adapted from one of Christianna Brand’s most successful novels. It features Inspector Cockrill superbly played by Alastair Simm. Directed by Sidney Gilliat and also starring the enigmatic Trevor Howard, the sexily husky Sally Gray and the wonderful character actress Megs Jenkins Green for Danger is a classic forerunner to many UK television detective programmes of today.

Set in war torn Britain in a large house converted to a hospital for the duration it captures the jealousies, suspicions and sexual undercurrents between the doctors and nurses when a postman dies on the operating table and their relationships are put under the spotlight. Scotland Yard’s insouciant Inspector Cockrill is called in to investigate this unexpected murder mystery story.

Inspector Cockrill is not like my fictional detective in the least. DI Andy Horton is younger, fitter, deeply troubled and definitely more serious  and my crime novels are contemporary although the detective in my play, Murder at The Pelican Club, Inspector Doyle, is not unlike Inspector Cockrill in Green For Danger and my play is set in 1940s war torn Britain.

The method of murder used in Green for Danger is as equally intriguing as the story line but I won't spoil it and give it away in case you haven't seen the film or read the book. Well worth doing both if you're into classic crime novels and old movies as DI Andy Horton's sidekick, Sergeant Barney Cantelli is.




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