Sidney Gilliat (screenplay), Roy Vickers (from the novel by)
Stars:
Margaret Lockwood, Barry K. Barnes, Emlyn Williams
Also known as Girl in the Case, this early Carol Reed effort tended to be dismissed or ignored by its director in later interviews. Even so, the film is a worthwhile effort, with an intricate and sometimes amusing script by Sydney Gilliat. Young lawyer Stephen Garringdon (Barry K. Barnes) manages to clear his first client, nurse Anne Graham (Margaret Lockwood), of charges that she has been systematically murdering his patients. At first exultant, Garringdon begins suffering pangs of guilt because he never completely believed in his client's innocence. When another murder occurs during Anne's shift, the lawyer begins to wonder if he is actually an accessory after the fact. Admittedly, things look bad for Anne, but unexpected salvation is at hand in form of affable Mr. Tracy (Emlyn Williams), who knows a lot more about the killings than anyone else-except, of course, the victims.