Penny Gold (1976)

When a playgirl (Francesca Annis) is brutally murdered, the police detective (James Booth) assigned to the case finds himself in the world of international stamp collectors including the murder victim's identical twin sister (Francesca Annis). Directed by cinematographer (THE RED SHOES) turned director (SONS AND LOVERS) Jack Cardiff. A rather dreary murder mystery finally kicks in during its last half hour or so but not enough to save it. The film feels like an old fashioned 1940s murder mystery gussied up with 1970s trimmings (car chases, violence, nudity). To the film's credit, I thought I had figured out whodunit but although I was on the right track, I was wrong so I'll give the screenplay props for stumping me. There's a lot of unnecessary padding to stretch it out to a running time of 90 minutes. Edited down to an hour, it might have made a satisfactory episode for something like THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR or KOJAK. With Nicky Henson, Joss Ackland, Penelope Keith and Marianne Stone.