Murder by Proxy (1954)

Murder by Proxy: Directed by Terence Fisher. With Dane Clark, Belinda Lee, Betty Ann Davies, Eleanor Summerfield. An American in London, down on his luck, runs into a beautiful blonde in a bar who offers him a lot of money to marry her. Broke and unemployed, he takes her up on it. When he wakes up the next day, he finds himself in a strange room that turns out to be an artist’s studio, there is blood on his coat, and he discovers that his new “wife’s” father had been murdered the night before.

“Itu0026#39;s too long and confusing and all the tension ebbs away while you try to follow the convoluted plot. The fun part is revisiting London of the time, especially the genuine interiors – from Chelsea Studio to furnished (in 1900 taste) flat to shagpileu0026#39;nu0026#39;modern sculpture penthouse. The beautiful girl acts as well as the artistu0026#39;s wooden lay figure. Why couldnu0026#39;t Dane end up with painter Eleanor Summerfield? I suppose weu0026#39;re meant to think u0026quot;Oh ho, the cops are following him because they think heu0026#39;ll lead him to the real killers!u0026quot;, but this is very clunkily done. And yes, the scene in the Polish pub (Polish pub???) is utterly unnecessary.”