The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939)

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery: Directed by Thorold Dickinson. With Leslie Banks, Greta Gynt, Ian McLean, Liane Linden. During a charity soccer match between top professional side Arsenal and touring amateur side Trojans, the Trojan’s new star player collapses. When he dies, Inspector Slade of Scotland Yard is called in and declares it was murder. It takes all his ingenuity and another death before the motive is discovered and the killer revealed.

“A better than average quickie, with a number of interesting features. Leslie Banksu0026#39; outrageous performance has been noted, but Ian McLean, not a well-known film actor, is very good value as his long-suffering sergeant, with dry wit and a poker face. It is also notable for being the only British appearance of Liane Linden, a winsome Norwegian actress who might have made it in British movies had she remained. Richard Norris also impresses as the chemist Setchley, but his film career was cut short by his death in battle at Salerno. George Allison, the Arsenal manager of the time, actually puts in a decent performance, although he was unlikely to be nominated for a BAFTA. There are also splendid cameos from Bruce Winston, Maire Ou0026#39;Neill and the actor playing the receptionist at Doyceu0026#39;s flat.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe resolution isnu0026#39;t entirely satisfactory – there appears to be no reason for the murderer to give him- or herself away at the denouement, as there was no damning evidence to be retrieved. The clue to the motive of the murders is oddly reminiscent to a similar clue in Saloon Bar, another whodunnit of about the same time, and the background is written up more thoroughly in the novel of the film by Leonard Gribble, recently republished by the British Library.”