In this 1960 series made by the Danziger Brothers, starring as Inspector Anthony Smith was Richard Wyler, with his boss Superintendent Mercer portrayed by veteran star John Longden. Man from Interpol has a period charm with even the most hardened criminals quite genteel in their language. The series had the distinction of being the first British one since Robin Hood to be networked in America. NBC showed the first story on Saturday January 30th 1960 at 10.30pm. Sadly it quickly flopped. Not surprising as it's really a kind of B movie for telly. It was never a success in Britain either as Associated Rediffusion bought it up only to show it to insomniacs. After lying dormant for over 25 years, satellite channel Bravo bought some bootleg copies and screened all the episodes listed above, numerous times from 1989 to 1996. Since then Man from Interpol has dropped back into forgotten obscurity. There is however one fan, me! Planning for the series was first announced in June 1958. A report in 'The Stage' for October 8th 1959 reads, "for the past 8 weeks, Tony Crombie has been occupied full time writing original music and arranging and conducting it... The Danziger Brothers were looking for fresh musical talent for Man from Interpol. Persuasion from Tony's friend and manager Jeff Kruger, who played every one of Tony's big band discs until three o'clock one morning to the Danzigers, convinced them that in Tony they had the very top talent they were searching for. In the short space of eight weeks Tony has viewed 39 half hour films and written an entire original score." Lucky him! A 45 and 78rpm record was issued, see my picture, Jeff Kruger's name can be seen on the label. My favourite episode: 6 Escape Route- a wonderful part for James Hayter, a fine example of a British B film, taut, well constructed, fun Best moment: 14 I like the simple opening location scene in Death via Parcel Post- effective, peaceful and yet it has slightly sinister overtones Best acting: Peter Vaughan in 17 Killer with a Long Arm. It proves there really is good acting in Danziger series! Funniest moment: Unintentional, but in 20 Last Words, the improbable searching for a clue that has been overlooked is appallingly executed Dud episode: 37 Child of Eve, not Lisa Daniely's finest hour- tho' it's not her fault the script is so poor To TV Crime Menu . . . . . . . Feathered Friend A racing pigeon is released. It happens to be shot by a farmer, who discovers that it is carrying diamonds! Supt Mercer briefs Insp Smith, his first port of call is at the hq of racing pigeons, a Mr Hammer. He refers Smith to the sender Charles Brandt in Amsterdam. But Smith's first port of call, after we see scenes of him around the city, is Insp Myner. Then Smith is shown Brandt's collection of racing pigeons. Another of the owners is Mrs Schmidt, a talkative lady with a collection of stuffed birds, who explains to Smith the different types of pigeon. At the railway station, Smith and Myner keep watch in the left luggage office. They see Mrs Schmidt collect her pigeons. Back home, she places each in its little compartment, we see her place diamonds in two cannisters, attached to pigeons that are released into the air. Police swoop, just as she is about to be silenced by Hammer. Smith punches the villain, destroying a lot of furniture in the process. Uncredited speaking part: A butler. Cars: VLA128 is a taxi Smith uses in London. In Amsterdam he drives XT-15-20 To Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . SOUL PEDLARS A tale of modern slave running,"the cruellest most vicious racket worked in Europe today." It's very well told. Miklos Hatvany (Sandor Eles) had escaped to England after the Hungarian Revolution and he's informed Zita his wife can be brought here also "at a price." He steals £300 from Lord Crowley his employer, who catches him in the act. But he's sorry for Hatvany and Inspector Smith is summoned from his bed to hear the sad story. Smith persuades the Hungarian to pose as a big time crook who has stolen £10,000, and this is sufficient to attract the attentions of the racketeers. The villain is Patrak (Michael Peake) whom he meets in the West End. He promises to reunite him with Zita. Patrak takes him to Vienna, putting up at the Bahnhof Hotel, Smith tailing them. From here Hatvany is driven to the rendezvous, but of course the Soul Pedlars never had any intention of producing his wife. The boss (Robert Dorning) says the cash is only a down payment, more can be got from Lord Crowley. But Smith has been trailing, and there's a punchup before the final tearful reunion beween Mr and Mrs Hatvany. Fortunately, the Austrian police had learnt that Zita had got over the border off her own bat- so there's a joyful ending for this happy couple at least. Notes: The outside of Lord Crowley's home is in reality the Edgwarebury Hotel in Elstree, a favourite Danziger location - indeed a favourite filmmakers' location! Sandor Eles (1936-2002) was born in Budapest where he studied the theatre. He lost both his parents in the revolution. With some help from the British Red Cross he managed to reach England. So making this programme must have been a poignant one for him. Nyree Dawn Porter has half a line before being thumped across the face. Later she utters just 3 more words. Everyone has to start somewhere. Still she spends one long scene preening her fingernails, or something. Superintedent Mercer does not appear in this story. Uncredited speaking parts: Lord Crowley. Inspector Gatt. Hans an Austrian policeman To Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . ODDS ON MURDER Sunday April 23rd- the Grand Prix D'Europ. The favourite Golden Girl is being ridden by experienced jockey Tim (Bill Owen). "Oh la la," exclaims Countess Salon (Noel Dyson ) "what's Tim holding back for?" But Tim knows what he's doing and moves up to win. Owner Count Salon (John le Mesurier) rewards him handsomely. Next race is the Queen's Cup at Epsom. But Tim receives a warning not to enter that race, on penalty of death. He chucks the note away. At that old Danziger haunt in London The Purple Shade nightclub he goes boozing with Nicki his girl friend (Lisa Daniely), drinking perhaps a little too much. When he receives a second threatening note and is shot at on the galops, he contacts the police. The Man from Interpol takes up the case and discovers some home truths about: Tim - he feels he is 10 feet tall when he's rich! Said nicely tongue in cheek by Bill Owen. Nicki - on whom Tim lavishes his cash generously. "This makes me look like his er... well you do realise?" The Count - he has had a "harmless flirtation" with another girl called Eileen. The Countess - an inveterate gambler. But she has been cured of her addiction, even though her large jewellery bill is still outstanding... Smith meets the couple at another Danziger location, the Albion Court Hotel. Anyway Inspector Smith decides they are all in the clear. So he asks Tim to act as "decoy," or as Tim puts it "a sitting duck." The police guard is removed from Tim to lure the crooks who arrive at 2.40am as Tim retires to bed. "One of the biggest illegal bookmakers in the world," Harry Ar (Arnold Bell) is behind the plot. "That darned horse was going to put me out of business!" Final scene is - you can't guess! - Tim winning the Queen's Cup. Bill Owen plays his role as the jockey with some enthusiasm. The end of the story however is weak, with new character Harry appearing out of the blue. Uncredited speaking extra: thug. Smith drives UTM495 Man from Interpol Menu . . . . THE KEY WITNESS (1959) Robert Arden fresh from his role in Saber of London, is now on the wrong side of the law. He plays Ray Reed, Number One amongst Britain's gang leaders. In a bar, Henry McCall confronts him with the warning to keep away from his daughter. When he calls Reed scum, he is shot dead. "With theatrical abandon", Reed makes it look like suicide, only Arturo the Italian barman (Bill Nagy) has witnessed the whole scene- he flees the country quickly! It's a delicate situation, explains Spt Mercer to Insp. Smith, as Smith must be a nursemaid to the one witness who can get the killer convicted. Smith traces the barman to Paris then finally to Rome. He visits the apartment block of Arturo's brother, only to be mistaken for the crooks, getting in a punchup with Arturo and his brother. Hardly the "delicate" treatment recommended by Mercer! Naturally all this makes Arturo rather doubtful about returning to London. However Smith does some smooth talking and persuades Arturo to do the right thing, personally guaranteeing his safety. Smith then receives a wire from Mercer, "the porpoise is close behind you and he's treading on your tail." Thus forewarned, Smith sets a trap on the train back to England. Hatchet man Paul Denver (Neil Hallett) strikes, only Smith has outthought him, and Denver is arrested. The disguised 'lady' with Smith isn't Arturo but an Italian cop. Arturo has gone by plane. Final scene- Mercer and Smith have great pleasure interrogating the killer, who, confident the witness has been silenced, expects his imminent release. But he soon learns the truth. "You need to draw up your will," adds Smith teasingly. Uncredited speaking extras: A police inspector (Colin Tapley). 'Archibald'- a sergeant in Mercer's office (John Martin). A railway porter. Note- While in 'Paris', Smith parks his left hand drive car, but in the background you can see the traffic is breaking all the French highway rules as they're driving on the left. Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . Escape Route James Hayter has a choice role as Henry Roper, conscientious cashier at Challoner's Bank. President Arnold Pickerton is wishing him a happy fortnight's holiday, and it certainly will be, for Henry is planning to help himself to the day's takings. He flies away to the sun. Mexico, but where after that? Interpol finds the trail goes cold, so where has he taken the £100,000? The redoutable Mrs Emma Roper (Beatrice Varley) can't believe it of her husband. He had amassed brochures for all sorts of exotic locations, like India and Hawaii, "all those foreign places where nobody in their right mind wants to go"(!) In fact it's Tahiti that he had made for, a local police chief (Warren Mitchell) informs Interpol, but then breaks the bad news to Inspector Smith that Roper has now ensconced himself on the remote island of Tamua, where extradition papers are not valid. "How do I bring him back?" puzzles Smith. On this sleepy isle, Roper enjoys the good life with native girl Lila (Anna Gerber) and he is never going to leave Tamua with any words from Smith. "You can do nothing," he happily tells the inspector. But Wyler has a trick or two to play. First he wires his boss Superintendent Mercer, and then convinces the local barman that Roper's stolen pounds will not be honoured by any bank. So now Roper has a problem, as he can't spend his money at the only trading post on Tamua. Lila tries to persuade Smith to leave, but met with a refusal, she chucks a spear at Smith while he sleeps. "It wouldn't have been Lila," Roper believes, yet she has gone into hiding somewhere. Smith makes Roper think she only wants his money, yes Roper's paradise is crumbling. But he won't give himself up and return to a British jail. That is until Smith's trump card arrives... Mrs Roper. She says she has come to share his good fortune and commences by ticking him off quite badly for his behaviour. As for Henry Roper, he decides he'd rather spend his time in jail. "I almost feel sorry for him," concludes Supt Mercer. Uncredited speaking extra: Larry the first bank teller Man from Interpol Menu . . . . No Other Way An unusually well thought out story, no criminality here, but a sad portrait of a misguided idealist, rather well presented. Idyllic scene in Northern Italy, the town of Laverno, where a fugitive, who has evaded justice for ten years, arranges with a shopkeeper to sell some of his paintings on commission. "You look familiar," ex-Resistance fighter Mario (Leonard Sachs) tells the vendor (Peter Howell). After the man has departed, Mario consults the police for he has a "bad feeling" about him. When the painter returns some days later to collect his payment, a hidden police cameraman takes his photo. When this is circulated to Interpol, it is clear Mario has not started any fool's errand, The man is recognised as that of William Turner. He had been "Inspector Smith's first defeat," an unsolved case. He is supposedly dead, but his father Sir Harry Turner confirms that the picture is of his son. "I wish he were dead," the old man sadly admits, for his son had been a traitor during the war. Smith travels to Laverno, but Turner has not been seen since, so an expedition is planned up the mountain where it is known Turner had hidden out in a remote monastery. Quite how Turner ever climbed down this treacherous mountain is unclear, for Smith needs an orienteering team of four to make the ascent. After a night encamped in the wilds, the monastery is reached. After a mini sermon from a monk there, Smith gets to ask his question. But Turner's whereabouts are not known, and the monk will not reveal what he knows anyway. The monk concedes Turner was a "very strange man" but he left the monastery some while ago, now living about half a day's journey away. The net closes outside a cave. Inside a voice responds to Smith's command. Then a shot. Turner gives his long dying oration, a message to his father on the lines of I did what I believed right. Smith ticks him off, then Turner expires. There is a long trek downhill with the corpse. Sir Harry's home is the very familiar Edgwarebury Hotel. Speaking to the monk, Smith quotes these lines, "Man must live by the side of his brother, and his brother beside him. A faith must be kept and also the law, for between them is all justice on earth." The monk replies: "So you know your bible," However where on earth in the bible is this quote?? Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . The Trap A payroll snatch at anl aircraft factory in Mill Hill, two employees shot dead. Joe Walsh (Peter Reynolds) drives hastily away with £30,000 and flees to Tokyo, where he owns a property. The bad news that Inspector Smith receivs when he pursues him there is that Colonel Masuto of Japanese Interpol cannot extradite Walsh since he is a Japanese citizen. "If only Walsh were on British soil, sighs Supt Mercer back in London. His comment gives Smith the idea for his scheme. He meets Walsh at a swish restaurant, posing as a Harry Carter. Col Masuto interrupts their cosy drink with a warning to this Carter, a put up job, but it endears Carter to his new friend. Half a million in gold, that's what Carter is planning to steal, a US shipment headed via Japan for Germany. Carter's plan is to force the plane down over Italy where his getaway car will be waiting for him to drive away with the gold. He offers a 50-50 split with Walsh. Smoothly goes this flight, until Carter and Walsh demand the pilot (Sheldon Lawrence) that he change course. In fact the pilot is expecting all this, and the landing is not at all what Walsh is expecting, for as Walsh steps off the plane, Superintendent Mercer is waiting at Blackbush Airport near London to arrest him. Strangely, Peter Reynolds is not credited in the on screen credits. Also with uncredited speaking parts: the restaurant manager. A bouncer. A passenger on the plane, plus another couple of male and female passengers. A radio operative Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . The Doll Maker The P & O liner Silver Star has docked in Sydney. A customs officer (Rolf Harris) searches luggage, including that of Meeker, what's this? A small doll. Inside is four ounces of heroin. Meeker is arrested, protesting his innocence. In fact, it's the old switched bags routine. The courier believes he is safe in his room in the Astor Hotel, but he isn't, for he is shot dead. Inspector Smith makes the long trip round the world, in order to question Meeker, with the assistance of Inspector Forbes. Jack and Elsa point Smith in the direction of Egypt, and in a shop in Alexandria, Smith finds Ali selling such dolls. He is arrested. The trail moves back to the London docks. At the Rivera Export Company Warehouse, police swoop. Smith boards the ship and finds his evidence in cabin 73, and arrests an officer, only getting slightly wounded in the process. Police car:SGX909. Uncredited speaking roles: 1 Meeker (Robert Dorning). 2 Porter Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . . All the Dead Were Harrisons An old lady in Somerset is entertaining an unseen visitor to tea, when she is strangled with a rope. Inspector Smith spots a strange link with this murder and the death of an old recluse in Canada and two others in Australia and New Zealand. In each case an Englishman had been in the neighbourhood asking questions, but the oddest coincidence is that every victim bore the surname Harrison. Down in Somerset, the local police inspector (Robert Raglan) introduces Supt Mercer to Mrs Little (Norah Gordon) a farmer's wife, the person who had found Miss Harrison's corpse. She says that the old lady, though not rich, said that she was expecting to come into a fortune. Inspector Smith flies to Canada to ask Dt Insp Dixon of the RCMP about their Harrison murder. George Harrison had been robbed and killed, though strangely the stolen property had later been found dumped in bushes. Though he had lived forty years in Canada, George had emigrated from England, the same holds true for the other overseas deaths. In the British Library, Smith finds the link between the victims, and excitedly telephones his boss Mercer, even though it's after midnight. Mrs Robert C James of Middleton Northumberland had died a while ago, she was the widow of an oil millionaire, but her relations had all left England and none were immediately traced. Solicitor and her executor is LJ Thomas of 81 Regent Street. Thomas is quite open with Insp Smith. The estate amounts to four million dollars, but Mrs James' brothers and sisters have not yet been located. Those who have been found have all died, the solictor states, without thinking this at all suspicious! After all, they died of natural causes. That of course is untrue, but Thomas has left the legwork to his secretary Hendrix (Robert Dorning). But what could be this man's motive for lying to his boss? Hendrix gets a break when an irish girl called Kathleen calls at the solicitor's office. She is related to the late Mrs James, and Hendrix promises to come and see her in Wicklow once he has substantiated her claim. Mercer unearths the final link in the chain. George Harrison had once lived with his married sister whose surnmae was Hendrix. He's got to be arrested, but it so happens he has left for the weekend. Smith can guess where to! He flies at once to Dublin. In her lonely cottage, Kathleen is welcoming Hendrix who tells her there is only one other claimant, himself of course. He moves in to strangle her but in bursts Smith, "oh no you don't." Though some of the script is naive and a little of the acting poor, such as that by Kathleen, this is an absorbing and ingenious plot that is well followed through. Uncredited speaking extras: Mrs Harrison of Somerset (Katharine Page). PC Biggs Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . The Man Who Sold Hope Captain Karl Moger (Walter Gotell) gives passage, for cash, to refugees, displaced persons, who want to leave Bremen for a new life. Destination England. Anton and his son are two desperate men making the trip, but as they near England a coastguard patrol gives chase and the passengers have to be hidden in crates. Moger callously ditches them overboard. On the upper reaches of the Thames and by the cliffs of Dover, the two boxes are washed ashore. In a Bremen cafe is Franz Borche, desperately seeking work. Moger offers him and his wife passage to Britain. Also here, having learned this Bierhaus is a haunt of refugees, is leather clad Inspector Smith posing as Ivan, another displaced person. Ivan says he is friendless and he's ripe for Moger's attentions. Start a new life, I'll fix that, Moger offers, and a price is agreed. Next evening, the boat sets off with Franz, his seasick wife and Smith on board, a stack of crates ominously deposited near them. When the policeman is caught signalling to the coastguard, he is knocked out and shut inside one of those crates as Anton had been earlier. Amazing, but Smith, Houdini-like, gets himself free, in time to prevent Franz and his wife being bumped off. They help Smith take Moger and his gang prisoners. In return Smith promises Franz that he'll personally sponsor their legal entry into Britain. Uncredited speaking parts: Anton (Joseph Furst?), Anton's son (Sandor Eles?), A barman, Bremen police inspector Compare this plot with Interpol Calling: You Can't Die Twice Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . . The Murder Racket A Paris businessman is brutally murdered as he leaves his office. Insp Veroux (John Serret who is usually Insp Gouthier) has learnt the killer spoke English, and walked with a limp. Since the murder weapon is a 38, an English gun, Interpol are called in. Inspector Smith spots similarities between this killing and that of an Englishwoman 15 months ago in Edgware. The same type of gun, and a limping man, never found, was chief suspect. We meet him, he is called Crichton (Anthony Jacobs) and he is already lining up his next contract. Major Dartford is the owner of the 38 but claims it had been stolen, he rather suspects his ex-gardener Tim Fowler (Arnold Yarrow)- however this employee didn't walk with any sort of limp. Smith does question him and he admits selling the gun to a known felon Freddy Mason (John Martin), and this crook is kept under surveillance. He is seen receiving a parcel from a Mrs Michelle Wright- is it a payoff? She is married to a businessman and the other victims had run respectable businesses too. Smith thinks it like the old Murder Incorporated. Well maybe, though on a smaller scale. Smith warns Harold Wright (Jack Melford) of the danger he might face, "I can't believe it." Smith offers his protection to the nervous Wright, who bravely sits in his office waiting for the killer to strike. "This may be it," Smith warns his boss, who has joined "a little ambushing party." Here's a well filmed final scene, the target pacing nervously to Tony Crombie's jazzy music, then we hear Crichton's footsteps as he slowly limps up the stairs. A knock at the door. Wright swallows, "come in." A gun goes off, but Wright himself is safe. Notes: uncredited speaking extras: Veroux's assistant. Concierge (Andreas Malandrinos). Wright's secretary. Police car: SCX909. Smith drives UTM495, the crooks drive UTM496. The ending with Jack Melford in his office has echoes of the ending of Mark Saber 5:9 The Scream in the Dark Man from Interpol Menu . . . Death Via Parcel Post I do like the title and the opening sequence. This shows a postman strolling along a peaceful village street, in his hands a parcel that is delivered to a picturesque cottage. It's for Professor Ernest Gladstone, of Ivy Cottage Totteridge Lane N21. But it explodes and the archaeologist is killed. Local Inspector Jamieson calls in Interpol, for Gladstone's colleague Prof Baker had recently died in a dark alley. Their other colleague is Prof Thomas (Jack Melford), the three had been excavating in Iran, where a farmer had threatened to kill them all. He is Saleb Gowali (Garrard Green). Inspector Smith flies to Iran to learn more about the fearsome Gowali, "he'd be hard to lose in a crowd," Smith comments on his evil-looking face. But somehow he has disappeared from view. Is he in England? Smith returns to London to inquire at the Aliens' Office, but nothing is known of Gowali's presence in Britain. Smith questions the fifteen registered immigrant Iranians to see if any can help, but none can, though one Ahmed, a shoemaker, seems evasive. Police are keeping watch to esnure that Prof Thomas is not attacked. However Ahmed alias Gowali is making his plans, buying materials to make another bomb at a local shop. "Very expensive, sir, £3.12/6d." But when an old lady in Croydon and a housewife in Chelsea are attacked in similar circumstances, it seems the killer must be striking randomly. Smith suspects these two murders are cruelly designed to try and throw police off the scent. When the assistant at the ironmongers reads the story in the paper, he tells Inspector Smith of the surly man with a foreign accent, yet they don't identify him as Gowali. However light dawns when the Iranian police learn that a Dr Ashanti had performed plastic surgery on Gowali, and his new features are wired to London. At once, Smith recognises the shoemaker. But the man has fled from his shop. Obviously he is hiding, waiting to kill Prof Thomas, so Smith arranges for the police guard to be withdrawn. "He won't harm you professor," Smith adds comfortingly, though naturally Thomas is not quite so keen. We see him fishing by a peaceful river as Gowali catches up with him. Smith gives chase through the woods and after a poorly staged scrap, Gowali is arrested. Uncredited speaking extras: The sergeant with Inspector Jamieson. A reporter. The clerk in the Aliens Office. Charlie at the ironmongers. A messenger in Mercer's office. Larry Noble plays the postman in the opening scene, but he does not speak. Note: Jack Melford similarly played a 'sitting duck' on behalf of the police only a year or so earlier in the Saber of London story The Scream in the Dark Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . Out Of Thin Air On a lonely straight French lane, a police road block is smashed by a truck. Police wildly shoot at it as though this were America, and the vehicle crashes. Driver and passenger killed. Their cargo explains their reluctance to stop- solid gold lighters, clearly smuggled. The FBI confirm that the lighters were made by a firm in Dayton Ohio, and were imported only to England. So it's via Britain that these goods had made it into France. Inspector Gouthier fills Anthony Smith in on the case. The odd thing is, his men cannot trace where on earth this lorry came from. Smith learns from the garage owner of the truck that there is a disused airfield nearby, though later we are informed there is no such airstrip. Smith returns to London after a seemingly pointless journey. He interviews the importer of the lighters, Carleton (Brian Worth), who also happens to run cheap student flights to France. Smith proceeds to write a cheque to hire the plane, at some expense for Interpol! He spots a suspicious crate being loaded on to today's flight by Carleton and his assistant George (Michael Balfour). When this flight lands in France it is immediately searched- but no ligthers are discovered. They must have been dropped by parachute. Now a host of extras, the students, are transported on Smith's charter flight, with Mercer also on board, watching for the drop. Mercer feigns illness to distract the stewardess (Jill Melford), giving Smith the chance to catch Carleton in the act of jettisoning his lighters. In the subsequent struggle, George almost succeeds in pushing Smith out of the open aircraft door, but Mercer arrives in time. In a comic conclusion, Mercer nearly topples out of the open door himself. Smith drives UTM495. There is film of him by the SNCF station and at a French garage. Uncredited speaking extras: 1 the garage owner (Andreas Malandrinos). 2 Holloway of the FBI (Gordon Tanner). 3 a male passenger with "girl friend" Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . The Case of Mike Krello 9.14am October 21st in London, American atomic expert Mike Krello is abducted from his boarding house, with his papers. Granz his boss (Colin Tapley) of Lake Electronics informs Inspector Smith that Krello, seconded from Dayton Ohio, was due to assemble a missile head with his British counterpart, Smithers. When we meet this archetypal scientist, he is so absent minded you wonder how such a weapon could ever be effective! Miss Mary Moore (Sylvia Francis), Granz's secretary, "a very capable girl," was friendly with Mike, indeed, she tells Smith privately later that they were in love, and only this morning at 8.30 he'd phoned her to say he'd been offered a better job in Istanbul. The storyline could have followed through this subplot to advantage, but we never see Mary's reaction to news of Mike's death. Krello's landlady Miss Mullins confirms she had served breakfast at 9am, after which the scientist had left with "another man" in a car. Despite narrowing down the time of the disappearance, the investigation grinds to a dead end until Supt Mercer receives a report from Istanbul stating that Krello has been found, dead. Captain Kara of the Turkish police explains the missing man had been run over by a car, run over three times, certainly no accident. However he had already been dead at this point, for he died of carbon monoxide poisoning. A description of the driver indicates he had a head wound himself. A doctor reports treating such a person, and Wallace, the kidnapper, is found at his apartment. He is chased all round, up on the rooftop and down again, he grabs an elderly lady as hostage, but she faints and Smith gets in a shot and an arrest is effected. Miss Mullins identifies him as the kidnapper. After being unsubtly threatened with medieval Middle Eastern torture, he caves in and admits he'd been paid £5,000 for the kidnap. Krello had been tortured to reveal his electronic secrets, but he hadn't cracked up, in fact he died suffering. This is an overlong epilogue, but the gist is that the spy ring has been smashed. Uncredited speaking extras: 1 Professor Smithers (Derek Prentice). 2 Miss Mullins. 3 The female hostage. In London, Smith drives a Vauxhall. The Turkish police car is a Citroen Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . . Killer With a Long Arm This Brian Clemens script has a satisfying storyline, with some well defined main characters in the marksman (Peter Vaughan), and the scientist (Ian Fleming). 10am in a quiet suburb, a most untypical suburb where a hired killer is purchasing a precision rifle in a shop. By way of payment, the gunsmith, Phillips, is shot dead. Inspector Jenkins (Robert Raglan) brings in Interpol, when fingerprints found in the shop prove to be those of professional gunman Karl. Now, with his assistant Sando (Maurice Kaufmann), he has taken over the house of astronomer Professor Wilmot, who has his own observatory on the top floor, "a perfect set up." Inspector Smith is methodically tracing Karl's steps. A nearby milliner recalls seeing a white van outside the shop, and Mr Hemmings, a grocer, even remembers it was a laundry van, the company called Welldale. However it transpires this firm does not exist. An alert constable spots the abandoned van, and Smith keeps watch on it, from the vantage point of a nearby cottage, owned by Johnny Peto aka Mr Olympic (Richard Shaw). As Peto does his workout, the radio is left on, with a commentary describing a ceremony to the background of music supplied by highland pipers (this same soundtrack had previously been used in Saber's Bow and Arrow). Karl has used the observatory to fix up his rifle aimed at a position one mile away. He too listens to the radio commentary. He readies his rifle as nearby Superintendent Mercer and Inspector Smith ponder what Karl might be up to. Peto points out the neighbouring properties, including Wilmot's. The penny drops when they are told the scientist has an observatory in his home, but who is Karl trying to kill? The radio provides the answer, though our detectives take an age before they finally put two and two together. With Peto, they burst into the professor's house. It's "unbelievable", but Karl had been attempting an audacious assassination of a visiting Foreign Minister. At the last minute, The Killer with the Long Arm has been thwarted. "The law has an even longer arm," concludes Smith brightly. The basic plot was used again in Thriller 3.3 The Eyes Have It (1973). Though it is much developed, the basic theme of an assassination from a high vantage point of an important political person is the same. Furthermore, Peter Vaughan starred in both stories! Uncredited speaking extras: J Phillips. Mrs Farrell the milliner. Police cars seen include 892FPC and 894FPC Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Murder In The Smart Set Guests are arriving at the high society party of Mrs Benson (Shirley Cain) in London. The mood is shattered when the hostess discovers her husband with a knife in his back, the safe emptied. Inspector Collins questions her and calls in Interpol. Supt Mercer and Anthony Smith go to interview the widow and obtain the guest list. They learn more from well known gossip columnist Ann Winters (Harriette Johns) who had been at the party. Inquiries lead them to a terrace house in Hammersmith, where Simpson (Brian Nissen) is hastily packing his belongings. He attempts to run off but is quickly apprehended. Mercer pieces the clues together. Inspector Collins also arrests Riggs and the three policemen grill him. His rooms are searched and the landlady is very helpful. That results in Smith travelling to Rome to liaise with Inspector Raimondo (John Serret), who has arrested a man who refuses to talk, "non comprehendo." Smith goes to a villa where a party is in full swing and finds Miss Winters acting suspiciously. She pulls a gun and eludes Smith, only to land in the clutches of the Italian policeman. Smith's car is UTM495. However in one sequence he leaves the Yard driving this, only to arrive driving TNM286! Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Front Man 'Tis Paris in the spring, as Inspector Smith is seen arriving at Le Bourget and wandering round town before consulting with Insp Gouthier about forged pound notes, the source of which that has been tracked to the city. Jacques Gerard (Peter Dyneley) who had been a hero of the Resistance is the suspect, maybe he'd obtained the Nazi presses that were known to have been constructed in the war. In the Rue Royale, Smith, posing as a British importer, calls on Gerard's export company, but his foreceful secretary Nadia (Bandana Das Gupta) won't let anyone see her boss. Smith has an intruder in his hotel room, a young girl who is called Jeanette (sympathetically played by Christina Lubicz), whom Smith had seen at Gerard's office. She had been his fiancee, but has been jilted, she's very worried that he has got in with a bad lot and is up to something crooked. Together they work out a scheme. A persistent Smith calls with Jeanette at Gerard's office. He waves a forged pound note in his hand. It turns into a very sad scene as Nadia gets Jacques to tell Jeannette to go away as he no longer loves her. Jeannette is sure Jacques is being forced into saying this and Smith comforts her with the likelihood that he is being blackmailed. His surmise is correct, for Nadia knows that Gerard killed a man during the war, Jeannette's brother in fact, who had been a traitor. Nobly, Jacques won't tell anyone the truth about the traitor in order to protect Jeanette. To get Smith off their back, Nadia goes to Smith's room and shoots him as he sleeps in bed. Her only error is that Smith has been kindly tipped off by Jacques, and is ready for her- he isn't in his bed. She gets another shock when Jacques decides to tell the police about the whole forged note operation. This cold blooded woman stabs him in the stomach. In walks Smith to arrest her, Jacques fortunately is not seriously injured and the story ends happily with him in Jeanette's arms. John Longden not in this story. Uncredited speaking extra: A French policeman in Gouthier's office Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . The Last Words In Wormwood Scrubs, Roger Miles is on his last legs. He has a weak heart. His cell mate Ken Haynes (Peter Murray) is with him when he dies. The police then ask Ken a strange question, what did he say before he died. Nothing says Ken. Ken and Julie reach home, but then Ken pops out. His destination is a pawnbroker. He collects some candlesticks belonging to Julie that he had had to pawn. Smith pounces and searches the bag in which Haynes is carrying the candlesticks. Nothing else in it. Then the heavies attack Ken, snatching the bag. Smith plays the Good Samaritan. Miles had been in prison for stealing the contents of a Royal Mint van, carrying new South American currency notes. The money had never been recovered. Haynes still insists Miles told him nothing. But Parro snatches Julie, believing Ken does know something. Of course the house where Miles had lived had been searched. But Smith does a double check when he hears Miles had often laughed about "a padded call." After some searching, Smith notices that Miles' bedroom has thicker wallpaper on one wall. Behind this is the cash. Haynes returns home to discover his wife is being held at gunpoint. But Mercer breaks up the party. The crooks' car is UEW863. Uncredited speaking parts: Miles (Kevin Stoney). A Scrubbs warder. Ben the pawnbroker Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . Diplomatic Courier On October 21st, Donald Taft of the State Departmentis to leave London for Washington on the 5pm flight. After getting into his taxi, he disappears. After a oddly taking a meal with Supt Mercer first, Insp Smith starts checking on the courier's movements. First call is his digs, where he notices a photo which, according to the landlady, is his actress girl friend. The taxi that took him to the airport is impossible to trace. At the US Embassy, Smith is told that Donald was engaged to Miss Meg Fraser, daughter of a millionaire, yet the photo is not of her. An effusive theatrical agent (a nice cameo by Peter Elliot), is able to reveal the girl in the picture is Virginia Gray, currently appearing in a West End revue. She seems unaware of Donald's disappearance, and knows nothing of his fiancee, for she has just married him herself! Donald's corpse is found floating in the Thames. He must have been pushed from a ship, and Smith traces the owner, an impoverished man named Fred. He explains some "fellers" had hired the boat to rob the diplomatic documents, "that's one of them," as he identifies a Yard photo. In Paddington, the crooks are easily rounded up. A fast moving formula story with no characterisation or excitement and plenty of loose ends. Probable Uncredited speaking parts: Landlady (Norah Gordon), The taxi operative. An embassy official. Rodney's secretary Julia. John- in the police lab. Smith drives UTM495 Man from Interpol Menu . . . . International Diamond Incident The optimistic title hides a tale of a minor swindle of a fake ruby. American John Day (Paul Carpenter) purchases for $1,000 from Jonker, an established Amsterdam dealer a two carat diamond ring, "hey, that's really something." Back in Chelsea he presents it to his girl Gloria Richards (Jill Melford). So now they are engaged, and "everything's going to be just perfect," specially now her ex boyfriend Freddy has been seen off the scene. But when Gloria quietly takes it to a jewellers for an insurance appraisal, she gets a shock when she is told it is made of glass, "cheap dirty glass," she screams at John as she throws the ring back at him. Supt Mercer deals with Day's complaint by sending Inspector Smith straight to Amsterdam on a rather fruitless trip. The company is indeed reputable, and that convicnes Smith that the solution to the mytsery lies back in London. Smith checks on Danny, one of Gloria's boyfriends from a year back. He's a soldier serving in the Middlesex regiment. But he says he has not seen her for a couple of months. So to a private club frequented by Freddy (Geoffrey Bayldon). Smith poses as a salesman, and Freddy offers to get Gloria to pose for Smith, as a model, "she's a dish." Another member at this club, rather improbably for he has little money, is Peter Langdon, and when Smith gently probes him, he readily admits his crime, that he had made the glass substitute, easy since he works at a glass factory. It's quite an impressive scene, as Smith and Langdon chat in his front room, with his kid sister watching on, his only excuse is his straightened family circumstances. Smith promises "to go to bat" for him, if he gives himself up. Freddy and Gloria are sharing a cigarette when Inspector Smith comes a-calling with Peter. It would appear that Gloria had not been in on the swindle, and she now finds out rather too late that she had needlessly ditched John. A taxi used is VLK166. Uncredited speaking extras: The London jeweller. Joe the Yard lab technician. A Dutch policeman. Peter's kid sister Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . . . The Maharajah of Den Reporting for duty after the weekend, "best man" Inspector Tony Smith is assigned to check on security for the state visit of a prince of a province north of India. Smith travels to the country to check on those accompanying the royal party. The first half is overlong and too wordy, as he interviews members of the royal palace. The Minister of State Kubek (George Pastell) shares his concern about the maharajah's security as he chats with him in the palace, apparently a lavish set borrowed from a higher budget film. Those travelling with the Maharajah (Francis Matthews) are the Maharanee (Dinah Anne Rogers), once Tina Gayle of Boston. Then there is Kelly (Nicholas Brady), the personal bodyguard, an American, as well as Tia a new servant, the old one had recently died. Having ascertained what Interpol has on file about each of them, Smith tackles them on all their shady pasts. Kubek himself ("out of the Arabian Nights") in the war belonged to a left wing subversive group, though he has now renounced all that, he claims. Kelly ("straight out of Terry and The Pirates") also has a shady past, once 'borrowing' cash from his former employer. He talks like British think Americans talk using words like 'dame' and 'ring-a-ding-ding,' none too convincingly. The maharanee ("you can't miss her") also has her secrets, once part of a heist in Vegas. "You can call me Tina." The flight does go ahead, and after a delay in Rome, London is reached. His highness books into the best hotel and takes a nap before dinner. But he never awakens again, "Tia, keep away," are the last words he utters, as Smith attempts to break his door down. He is dead, Tia beside him also dead, a dagger in his hand. To avoid a diplomatic incident the killer must be exposed quickly. Supt Mercer is certain Tia is the guilty one, but Smith does not, despite appearances, and a check with the Actors' Association gives him what he wants to know. The remaining retinue are gathered together for the tradiitonal exposition. Smith explains why Tia didn't do it and how the crime was committed. "You weren't clever at all" Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . Murder Below Decks About to depart Southampton for New York, a liner is delayed when the corpse of Ali Duando is found knifed in Cabin 74. This Pakistani from Hammersmith had been emigrating to America. His Hammersmith landlady tells Inspector Smith that he did have a girlfriend, a Miss Barlam, whereabouts unknown. He had worked at a spice company, Moturno his boss tells of a quiet boy, "a very fine worker." But he'd left when his uncle had offered him a job in the States. His girl friend turns out to be Moturno's secretary, but she's a little evasive, claiming Ali had been more interested in his old mother back in Pakistan than her. "It's a conspiracy of silence," observes Superintendent Mercer, and Smith concurs. They're afraid of something. So Smith flies to Karachi, and then drives on to West Pakistan and Ali's home village. In Arraka, the local police chief informs Smith that Mrs Duando had died three months ago of natural causes. But it is clear Ali had left his homeland in order to make enough money for his starving family. Kuali, the village moneylender, had paid for Ali's passage to England. The conspiracy of silence is broken when Miss Barlam is persuaded to talk. Evidently Moturno had been running "the old kick back routine" forcing his employees to pay back their fare to England at extortionist rates of interest. They are also forced to carry packages on their journey from Pakistan, which Smith surmises must contain narcotics. proof of this is found in Moturno's office, but Moturno catches Smith and Miss Barlam rifling his desk. Before he sets his thugs on them, he helpfully explains that he had ordered Ali's death, since Ali was trying to break away by fleeing to America. However the henchmen are pretty anaemic and Smith knocks them both out before Supt Mercer steps in to make his arrests. "Bless you daddy-o," concludes Smith. Smith drives TNM286. Uncredited speaking extras: a ship steward. The maid who finds the body. A landlady (Norah Gordon) Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Tight Secret Tom Gates is making up to Mitzi, the daughter of a retired jeweller named Otto Kaufman (Gerard Heinz) who hoards his wealth in his own private strongroom. Tom also has some undesirable friends in Vic (George Pastell) and a defrocked doctor named Courant (John Gabriel). The trio plan to rob Kaufman, but how to obtain the secret code, known only to the jeweller, that will open the strongroom and the safe? But Kaufman is suspicious of Tom and he seeks Interpol's advice. Supt Mercer and Inspector Smith identify Tom as ex-jewel thief Tom Groves who has at least been going straight for the past ten years. Smith promises to keep a watch, and Kaufman plays along with Tom, showing him his airtight strongroom. The secret of the combination to his safe is also a tight secret. The next evening, after Tom and Kaufman have dined, Kaufman feigns tiredness. Tom lets his friends in the house, but when he sees that Courant is to administer pentathol, the truth drug, on the old man, he objects, and finds himself tied up. The drug soon takes effect and Kaufman tells Vic the number to open the strongroom, 1-4-6-8-1-4. Now for the combination of the safe, 9-4-3-8-6-9, or does he say 'eins' for that last digit? He is relapsing into German. The room is unlocked easily, now to the safe. A problem with that last digit. When 9 is dialled in, the outer door of the room swings shut. A trap. So though the crooks can open the safe at the second attempt, and help themselves to the gold and the pearls, they cannot get out. What's more there is little air! Inspector Smith breaks into the house and unties Tom. Now to rescue the crooks. The old man, in German, tells Smith Die Nummer and the suffocated Vic and Courant are released, but only to be informed, "you're on your way to Scotland Yard." This proved an interesting role for Jack May as the crook who develops a conscience Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Job A simple start to a world ranging story. A man in the London suburbs is knocked down and killed by a Ford Consul. Papers show he was an Italian named Julius, from Rome, but in his case is a consignment of heroin. In his pocket a card bearing the name John Frawley. This person is currently in prison, so Supt Mercer and Insp Smith question him there. For some time off his sentence he is agreeable to admit Julius was a pusher trying to break in on the British scene. But of course Frawley had refused to have any dealings with the crook. However in case Frawley changed his mind, he did have the name of who to contact, a Harry Peters of 265 West 65th Street New York. With FBI backing, Smith poses as Frawley and contacts Peters (Robert Arden). He's an importer and exporter of textiles. Peters asks Smith for the dough for the consignmen. Smith has to stall. He is unable to wheedle the name of the top man behind the operation from Peters, who decides to keep close tabs on Smith. Peters shows Smith the sights, including Eddie's Club where there's an interval as they sip bourbon and a group plays jazz. The number Cheeky Chappie is the sign for Peter's mate Joe to deliberately pick a fight with Smith. It's a test of Smith's fighting ability and he sure comes thru that one OK, "hey mister, you can certainly use your dukes." That seems to sway Peters and the two are soon as thick as thieves. Smith can now meet the boss, however to do so they have to fly all the way to Rome. At the Albergo Merulana, they wait until sent for. Smith snatches the chance to contact the carabineri, but what Inspector Ricardi overhears at his end of the line is Smith being found out by Peters' right hand man Basset. Smith knocks Basset out and hides the unconscious body just as Peters comes in to say the meeting is all fixed up. There's a surprise, as the boss is Signora Alexis (Nyree Dawn Porter), "I'm not used to dealing with a woman," Smith admits. Her response, "I like a man who asks questions." But there's no more time for small talk as Basset must have regained consciousness for he bursts in. Hasty plans are hatched to "get rid" of traitor Smith, but luckily the police have followed Basset and the game is up. "A very tough assignment," concludes Smith. Notes: The Ford car is 358KMT. Uncredited speaking extras: John Frawley. A barman (Harry Towb). Joe, the man who picks a fight. Customer at bar. Italian page boy. The end titles, though not the music, are strangely in the style of Saber of London, ie not the usual map of the world as a background Man from Interpol Menu . . . . A Woman in Paris Richard Martin (Francis Matthews), heir to a fortune is missing from home, a possible sighting of him in Paris. Quite why Interpol agent Anthony Smith is sent to France to investigate is a mystery in itself. But police take him to an apartment, and someone named Jean answers. He looks just like Richard, indeed he is, Smith forces him to admit as much. Case closed! Richard gives an explanation, that he had wanted to get away from his over protective parents, and here he has found freedom, with a blonde named Margo (Martine Alexis). In the past his family had vetted his friends, and he's not going to risk Margo being rejected by them. However when he hears his absence has made his mother ill with worry, he does agree to come back to England with Inspector Smith on the Two Capitals Express. He calls on Margo in Montmartre to say his farewells, but also proposing to her. She however refuses until he has made his peace with his parents. Is it his money she's after? Richard decides that it is, and makes a final break with her, "it's all over." Yes, he has been quite perceptive, for she is indeed a golddigger, and now she has been snubbed is bent only on revenge. Her boyfriend supplies the necessary, she has a case with her bomb placed in Richard's compartment. But, this bit at least is true to life, the train is delayed by half an hour, and she has to retrieve her case, not because she has had second thoughts, but so she can alter the clock inside the case to 9.05. Then she has the case placed back on the train. Not that you'd guess we are in a station, the set looks like a studio, not even much railway background noise. However there are a few film sequences as Smith and Richard depart. Now Margo really does get cold feet and from her Paris waiting room demands the train be halted. There's a bomb on the train, she dramatically announces. It will go off in 8 minutes. The local stationmaster at Chauny is alerted. Six minutes to go. Smith is already suspicious of the package as the brakes on the train judder it to a stop. Four minutes left. The stationmaster climbs on board and warns Smith. Amazingly calm, Smith, two minutes to go, uses iodine and drops the bomb in a solution. Thus the much delayed express proceeds smoothly on its journey, "a simple case for a change," Supt Mercer comments on Smith's return. But also rather improbable Uncredited speaking extras: Inspector Verdi of French Interpol. A railway porter (2 scenes). A barman. A lady who returns the suitcase. A railway controller. A passenger at London To Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Man Alone A long sequence depicting a robbery outside a bank starts this one off. £50,000 snatched, and one guard shot. The robbery has all the trademarks of the crook Paul Lloyd, who is reported to have left Blackbush Airport, destination Florence. At the Albergo Meruluna in a remote village in northern Italy, he hides, safe since snow has all but cut off the area. The local policeman Giovanni (Robert Rietty) spots a chance for promotion when he recognises Lloyd. He calmly arrests the criminal, playing everything by the book. The inexperienced local policeman had permitted Lloyd the traditional phone call, but Lloyd used the opportunity to phone Rome to warn the rest of his gang. They show up to rescue their boss, shooting dead the most unfortunate Giovanni. Insp Anthony Smith is on his way! However I couldn't see any sign of the snow at all! Smith arrives in time to arrest Lloyd. But the gang are on hand to stop him leaving. They pace down below, while Smith, in the prisoner's bedroom, ponders his next move. One crook Barney (Michael Balfour) bursts into Lloyd's room, but Smith wounds him and he retreats. As a time filler, Lloyd reviles Smith and tries to bribe him. This sequence is quite informative, as the writer gives us some background to Smith's character, his father had been a "cop" dying on duty. Smith had taken a law degree. The two of them are on opposite sides of the law. Smith puts the handcuffs on his prisoner and walks out. A shooting match inevitably ensues. One crook, Charley, readies to shoot Smith. But he is shot down... by Lloyd. Perhaps their conversation had done some good after all. The crooks drive a Humber HMJ868. Uncredited speaking role: Anna the wife of Giovanni Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Mistaken Identity What's a burnt-out car doing beside a quiet French road? And whose body is inside? Not that of Frederick Benson, despite the corpse wearing Benson's ring and watch, for his wife Ruth (Dorothy Gordon) is positive it is not he. Inspector Gouthier is baffled, so he calls in Interpol. Harris takes fingerprints Benson has left at his home and office, and the fact is established beyond doubt, that the corpse is not Benson's. Now follows a sequence of shots showing police footwork, it is a montage of clips from other Man from Interpol stories, including The Murder Racket, All The Dead Were Harrisons, and Killer with a Long Arm. Finally the dead man is proved to be smuggler Peter Lacey, who had gone to Paris three days previously, according to his wife, "for an easy way to make money." She breaks down when told he is dead. She just doesn't know who had lured him there, but a barman at the local remembers he had been drinking with a man, identity also unknown. However this man's girlfriend is a dancer at the Alhambra named Julie Marsh (Lois Dane). Her flatmate says Julie isn't at home, she'd left three days ago to get married. Her husband is Frederick Benson. So where is Benson now? Evidently he had helped himself to £25,000 of his firm's cash, according to their accountant, and these banknotes have been deposited in a Rome bank! The deposit made by a Mrs Harry Walters but the address supplied to the bank is a false one. Inspector Smith waits with Inspector Ricardi for Mrs Walters to make a withdrawal. When she does so she proves to be Julie Marsh, and she is followed back to her husband who is Benson (Charles Leno). They had been getting ready for a new life in South America. Ruth Benson identifies her husband in a sad scene, which could have been made more poignant. The fugitives are arrested. One police car is MGF287. Smith drives UTM495. Uncredited speaking extras: Harris (Howard Lang), Miss Prentice Benson's secretary, Mrs Lacey, Barman (Denis Shaw), Julie's room mate, A policeman in Mercer's office, Field an accountant (John Stuart), a bank cashier Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Missing Child A half minute scene shows Inspector Smith driving up round Belgrave Square to a foreign embassy. His Excellency Haja (Ferdy Mayne) is worried as his eight year old son Steven has been missing for three hours. His nanny Miss Tanner (Marion Mathie) is even more upset as she had been in charge of Steven when, returning from their daily trip to the park, she had stopped off at a newsagents. Steven had waited outside, but when she emerged, he had gone, "my baby!" Her distress is in contrast to Haja's calmness. Also upset is Steven's mother, who has removed herself to the Albion Court Hotel. There's something she seems to be hiding from Smith. After six hours, a breakthrough. The French chef at the Embassy had been sacked recently, and he's been spotted driving round in a posh car. When Smith calls, the chef (Derek Blomfield) is enjoying a slap up meal with his family, but he's in the clear for his fortune has come from a win on the pools. But the chef reveals that Haja and his wife had been already living apart, after the ambassador's matrimonial indiscretion. At last a communication from the kidnapper. A demand for £200. Smith fetches the rather pathetic Mrs Haja back to the embassy and explains his theory to the family. This paltry demand for £200 has helped him solve the case, you see, Steven wrote that note, his way of trying to get his mother and father together again. His favourite hiding place is the attic, Miss Tanner reveals, and it's here that he is found, a storm in a teacup! He apologises and it all ends happily. Haja admits he's been a middle aged fool and gives his thanks to Mercer and Smith. Uncredited speaking extra: Dr Felix (Colin Tapley). Smith drives UTM495. The plaque on Mercer's door is incorrectly spelled "Superintendant Mercer" Man from Interpol Menu . . . . The Big Thirst (no John Longden) A dry US state where bootlegging is still a way of life! This is the rather improbable premise of this quaintly old fashioned story of "the old revenuing days" with even a mention of Al Capone. I can't decide if the scriptwriter really was giving us a Britisher's quaint notions of how American backwoodsmen speak, with all the cliches of American speech you can drag up. In a dusty backwater, Inspector Smith is posing as a cosmetics salesman, and grabs a root beer for 10c at the local store. But round the back he's offered something stronger, 99% proof, but what exactly is it? No label. $8 buys a bottle. Smith arranges with Pops (C Denier Warren) to sell some the genuine article in the big city, so over a fried chicken, cooked by his untalkative daughter Rosie (Margo Mayne), the deal is struck. Slim tells Smith to obtain a supply of the liquor from a gas station called Tommy's, it's the genuine Scottish stuff. So Smith departs, declining to take with him any marriage partner, that is Rosie, whose only line is the entertaining "oh pa." A real rustic type. Armed with the liquor, Smith takes it to Betty's Place, to Miss Betty (Patricia Plunkett), selling at a good profit. But noone will inform him where this whiskey has come from. At the Southern Treasury Department, Smith hands in one bottle. It's traced back to a Scottish distillery, MacLeods. This firm cooperate by marking a consignment which is sent to USA via Canada. In a huge Chevrolet (that must have cost a packet to hire) Inspector Smith follows a truck with false plates, which is loaded at a Montreal warehouse with the marked consignment. It veers off the road down a narrow lane. Crates are taken off and loaded on to another truck. Smith returns to the store where he had been introduced to Rosie. Slim and Pops fall out in a long scene which ends in a gunshot as Rosie herself moves from words to action. As Smith concludes, "where else could one find a flower like Rosie?" The answer is, only here. Notes: Uncredited speaking extras: Sam Betty's assistant. The boss of the Alcoholic Tax Division The print shown on Bravo had the wrong title of My Brother's Keeper Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Death in Oils John C Terence's private US art collection is on display at a London gallery. Nightwatchman Albert Vogel sees an intruder and phones the police, but is shot dead. Terence (Robert Ayres) informs Interpol that he has just discovered that $400,000 dollars worth of paintings have been replaced with near perfect fakes, but fakes nonetheless. But how could anyone have copied the originals so quickly? Herr Fliegler (Ralph Michael) had organised this exhibition, part of a European tour taking in Dublin, Lisbon, Marseilles and Naples, not perhaps the highspots of European culture. Why such second rate centres, Inspector Smith ponders. Inspector Collins of the Yard has learned that Vogel was a painter, and Interpol confirm he has had convictions for art forgery. In his room is found a scrap of paper with Pier 12 scribbled on it. The SS Hagel is at Pier 12, having docked from Hamburg. Undercover policewoman Mary West (Silvia Francis) makes friends with the ship's captain, Gerdhardt (Walter Gotell), meeting him at his favourite pub. She tells him she's eloping and the captain, who has a soft spot for a pretty face, agrees to give her and her fiance, Inspector Smith in disguise, passage. Once on board, Smith looks round and overhears Karl the first mate discussing his killing of Vogel with the captain. In his cabin is a wonderful photocopying machine that can somehow reproduce incredibly accurately any painting. Karl finds Smith out, but after a fight Karl is knocked overboard. It appears that this machine is kept hidden on SS Hagel, and thus all the exhibition venues had to be near a port. It seems also that Vogel is rather a red herring. On docking, Smith and his fiance, by way of thanks, agree to take the forgeries through customs and Smith is taken to a large house where the mastermind behind the robbery lives. Smith is recognised, and Gerhardt is ordered to silence him. This looks like the end for Inspector Smith, who gets in one punch before Supt Mercer and Mary swoop to arrest the gang. What happens to the invaluable photocopier is not stated Uncredited speaking extra: A German policeman. Smith drives UTM495 Man from Interpol Menu . . . . Multi Murder The 12.40 Flight VLT35 is departing London Airport for Budapest, incredibly only five passengers on board this giant plane! One is businessman Charles Henry Harper, seen off by his nephew Bruno. He has placed a bomb in his uncle's attache case, and at 4.25 there's an awful explosion over the Austrian and Hungarian border. Bruno is set to bag £5,000 insurance, plus his uncle's inheritance. "Superintendant" Mercer introduces Inspector Anthony Smith to Major Tremayne of Military Intelligence and Harold Purcell (Robert Raikes) of the Northway Aircraft Company. Having discussed possible international implications, Smith and Purcell fly out to Vienna to examine the wreckage which is being gathered in a remote farm barn. Pieces of the plane have scattered over several miles, indeed some of the debris is over the Hungarian border. As a key part of the fuselage is missing, the likely area where the explosion must have occurred, the investigation grinds to an inevitable halt. Inspector Vilmech (Guy Deghy) of Austrian Interpol reluctantly gives Smith a visa to contact the Hungarian police, who are no part of Interpol. Smith must have a very long walk from the border, as he travels on foot! Kommisar Stermolk (Alexis Chesnakov) is evasive at first, but Smith appeals to his professionalism and after a drink of vodka, any Western plot about an abortive bomb attack on Budapest is dispelled, more especially so when the pair share together their love of Sherlock Holmes ("not approved literature"). I liked this well acted scene. I don't understand how, but by late that evening Smith is back at the farm with a lorryload of debris, including the damaged fuselage. Purcell is able to pin the source of the bomb down to Harper's luggage. The fact that Bruno has gained from his uncle's death sets Mercer on to the nephew, and he is arrested. By way of thanks to his colleague behind the Iron Curtain, Smith sends Stermolk some Sherlock Holmes novels and even a Holmes pipe. They are well received. Uncredited speaking extras: Bruno (John Charlesworth) who has many scenes in none of which except the last is he required to speak. Stermolk's assistant. Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . The Art of Murder A body is washed up on a Nassau beach, that of John Dekker, Interpol agent. He'd been undercover trying to find out about the activities of rich Roger Mills (Denis Shaw), based on an unknown island in the region. Inspector Smith is his replacement in the sun. The local police commissioner briefs him on "this messy business." As Dekker's operation was secret, it's not clear what happened to him, but Smith is sure that Mills though outwardly a nice chap, is a deadly foreign agent. Mills is friendly enough, sharing a drink with Smith. He says he had taken Dekker on a flight in his private plane, and afterwards the man had gone for a swim and drowned. Kathy is a singer who had been friendly with Dekker. She admits to Smith she had been paid by Mills to get to know Johnny Dekker, but that she had got hung on him, thus she is very bitter about his death. Her one question to Smith is, was he married? She's relieved to be told he wasn't. Smith uses the same hotel room Dekker had stayed in. Left behind is a weird picture he'd painted, "what's it supposed to mean?" This "crazy" picture puzzles Smith, it's some kind of clue, he's sure. There's no invisible writing on it, but the colours, which of course we can't see in black and white, are the clue. The initial letters of the colours used are R - O - V - Y - I - B - I. That spells nothing! At last he cracks the highly mysterious code. It leads Smith and the police to Mills' secret hideout. Those colours of the spectrum each have a number, and that is the location that is wanted. "You have to be an artist and a mathematician, in order to be an Interpol agent." The Nassau Police Commissioner is Captain Ham, though Kathy calls him Lieutenant. Uncredited speaking extras: Fisherman who finds the corpse. Man hiring Smith's room. An art expert. Airline official Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . . The Child of Eve According to the narrator, this is "one of the most amusing cases," of the series- it might be if you have a wayout sense of humour. It's the protracted story of "so beautiful" Dinah (Lisa Daniely) who lives in provincial France, but longs for the bright lights. In gullible Pierre Latour, she sees her chance, persuading him to sell off his vineyard and take her to Paris. But on the eve of their wedding, she walks off with his wallet and family heirlooms. Pierre has to pay their hotel bill, as he has no money he's left to wash the dishes. Naturally he wants revenge and as she had flown to London, he approaches Superintendent Mercer and Inspector Anthony Smith to locate her. Start over again is their best advice, but Pierre wants her caught and prosecuted. As she'd always wanted to be a singer, Pierre believes she might be working in a club. In fact she is, for having quickly spent Pierre's fortune, she had got on the books of Bowman's Theatrical Agency. "You ain't got what it takes, baby," but despite this discouragement she had persisted and Mr Bowman had found her a post with a number three band. But though she has little talent, she gains her male admirers, and this brings her a contract to sing in America. This is announced in the papers, and thus Mercer and Smith are able to track her down. She denies stealing Pierre's money, but the family crest on her handbag gives her away. She tries bluff but Smith isn't fooled, and she is under arrest. Or is she? In the Interpol office, Pierre and Dinah have a fierce argument but when it blows over, they kiss and make up, now once more engaged. Inspector Smith even agrees to be the best man. What can you say? The story is performed by a minimal cast of six, everything on the cheap Man from Interpol Menu . . . . . The Big Racket A British immigrant named Charles Hepworth has flown in to Toronto, where he is detained by customs but tries to escape. He is rather harshly shot dead. He is recognised as a man reported missing, not been seen for months, last known place of residence a place for derelicts in Bayswater. Rather improbable that his absence had been officially noted. The man however is not who he claimed to be, though his passport is genuine enough. Anyway, why would a down and out even apply for a passport? Few at the Baywater home remember Hepworth at all, as Inspector Smith discovers when he asks about the dead man there. The tramps are hardly forthcoming, though a fag loosens their tongues. One states Hepworth had got to know a "classy" man in a nearby cafe. That man has a scar on his face. He had also befriended Chalky White, another person noone has seen for quite a time. The Lewis Employment Bureau is the hq of the racket. Next victim has been lured, a friendless unmarried girl aged 28, Betty Grant. She fits perfectly, Elsa Lewis tells Jack (Robert Cawdron), her scar faced husband. An application for her passport is made. Soon Jack is pouring drops of poison into Betty's coffee. Very soon she collapses. Looking exceptionally rough, Smith checks into the hostel as Tom Court, "the live bait." He nicely fits Lewis' "hot client" who has to skip the country. "I ain't got a soul in the world," Smith tells Lewis pathetically. He is offered a job in Canada, and a passport application in the name of Tom Court is processed for him. He is now ready to emigrate, tailed by a Yard officer. Have a drink, Lewis offers one to Smith which he surreptiously pours into a flowerpot, then feigning death. He is to be dumped in the river, but the corpse revives, reveals his true identity and Mr and Mrs Lewis are arrested. Uncredited speaking extras: A female passenger at customs. The customs official. A detective in Mercer's office and later in on the arrest (Colin Tapley). The priest in Bayswater. A derelict (Ian Wilson). A male client in the bureau. A cafe owner Man from Interpol Menu . . . . The Golden Shiri Khan, a wealthy Eastern potentate, has just held a lavish party in his Mayfair home, but one of his guests has stolen his valuable gold statue. Khan is the spiritual leader of a sect, this golden shiri the symbol of his authority. It must be recovered urgently, before it is melted down. From the Yard files, he identifies one of his guests as Curt Bridges (Neil Hallett), a known con man, and Rome Interpol inform Supt Mercer that he has been seen in Rome. We see Curt imbibing champagne with a new conquest at the Club Florida, where the resident photographer snaps him. To prevent his picture being circulated, this innocent employee of the restaurant is later killed. Inspector Smith is sent to Rome. We see him walk, yes walk, past the Colosseum to the office of Interpol Inspector Ricardi. The local police tell them that Bridges had been at the Club Florida, with a very pretty companion. It's a puzzle why Bridges had killed the photographer in order to steal the prints, but had failed to take the negatives also. But Smith, when he has developed the relevant negatives is able to definitely identify the man as Bridges. The girl in the photo, Barbara (Diane Aubrey) calls at the club next day to get her photo. Smith is waiting, posing as Larry, an old army buddy of Curt's, but all she can say is that Curt has left Rome by train, she knows not where. After checking the trains, Bridges is traced to a village 50 miles north of Rome. A "fast car" takes Smith there in an hour, though the shots hardly suggest the car could have made that good time. Bridges attempts to escape when Smith knocks at his door, and is shot dead. However there is no sign of the missing statue so Smith has to return home from Ciampino airport. Flight 38 to London, and perhaps it's no coincidence that a fellow passenger happens to be Barbara. She is bringing back a souvenir for her mother, and at London Airport Smith tips off customs to examine the package. So another case is closed, the last for the Man from Interpol. "It was nice of her to bring it back for us." Uncredited speaking extras: 1 Khan's servant. 2 The lady photographer at the club. 3 Airport receptionist. 4 The sergeant in Mercer's office. 5 London Customs officer. Also in a non speaking role as a policeman is Danziger extra John Martin Man from Interpol Menu