| Murder at the Windmill | |
| Director: | Val Guest |
| Producer: | Nat Cohen Daniel Angel |
| Based On: | original story by Val Guest |
| Starring: | Garry Marsh Jon Pertwee Jack Livesey Eliot Makeham Jimmy Edwards |
| Music: | Ronald Hanmer |
| Cinematography: | Bert Mason |
| Editing: | Douglas Myers |
| Distributor: | Associated British Film Distributors (United Kingdom) Monogram Pictures (United States) |
| Studio: | Angel Productions |
| Runtime: | 70 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Murder at the Windmill, titled Mystery at the Burlesque in the United States, is a 1949 British crime film directed by Val Guest and featuring Garry Marsh, Jon Pertwee, Jack Livesey, Eliot Makeham and Jimmy Edwards.
It was shot at Walton Studios and was the first film to show footage inside the Windmill Theatre.[1]
A spectator is shot during a performance at London's Windmill Theatre, causing the Metropolitan Police to investigate.[2]
A number of people had tried to get permission for making a film about the Windmill but been refused by Vivian Van Damm. Daniel Angel managed to get the rights because he was the son in law of Van Damm. Angel approached Val Guest to write and direct because he knew Guest had written sketches for the Windmill. Guest thought up a story overnight which was approved by Van Damm. He said "we went on the floor, we built the Windmill in the studio, we did a few things at the Windmill but not a lot, we built it all in the studio, we did it with numbers, shot it with production numbers and everything in 17 days and it went out and made a fortune."[3]
In the Radio Times, David McGillivray wrote, "partly filmed in situ, with performers and staff playing themselves, this creaky whodunnit is a valuable record, within the bounds of the strict censorship of the day, of the lowbrow songs and sketches that made the theatre famous. Jimmy Edwards's spot, dreadful now, was thought hilarious at the time, and won the whiskery comic his part in radio's celebrated Take It from Here" ;[4] while TV Guide thought the film was "hampered by trite dialog and an easy solution," and "the mystery is little more than an excuse to film a few song and dance numbers. These are nicely staged and come off a good deal better than the investigation."[5]