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Monday, December 19, 2016

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (1958)

An American scientist (Anthony Quayle) and a secret agent (Zsa Zsa Gabor) arrive in England on a secret assignment involving a deadly virus. But a break in at their hotel room ends up with the scientist arrested for murder ..... and he refuses to testify in his own defense! Produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, not coincidentally married to the film's star Anna Neagle (a rather charmless actress) who plays Quayle's attorney. Co-written by the famed crime writer Edgar Lustgarten, this minor British courtroom drama is better in its first half. Once we get to the courtroom section, Neagle's posturing reduces the effectiveness of those scenes. It's entertaining enough for its duration but also forgettable. A friend called Neagle, a Greer Garson without the warmth and that about sums it up. At least, Gabor provided some much needed glamour to the film before she's knocked off. I'm not that well versed on British law or courtroom proceedings but it seems accurate enough. With Dora Bryan, Katherine Kath, Hugh McDermott and Patrick Allen. 

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