Prismark10 A film that will remind you that a Dimbleby has always been on the BBC as Richard Dimbleby plays himself as a member of the Twenty Questions radio panel. The panel receive a series of anonymous clues that lead to murder.A journalist Bob Beacham (Robert Beatty) realises that a question sent by a listener regarding Riki-tiki-tavi is somehow linked to the death next day of a man with a name similar to it.Along with a fellow journalist Mary Game (Rona Anderson) they look for similar clues in the next edition of the radio program as they figure that a pattern is developing.It is never explained why the murderer has gone to elaborate lengths to the taunt the police but they seem to be more interested in fitting up an Indian manservant called Mohammed Ali.All through the film you get comments on the case by two BBC workers on the reception of the radio show.There is a lot of casual sexism in the film, yet it is a rather amusing, dated and diverting thriller.

kidboots Modest quota quickies often played in independent halls as a main feature provided there was enough appeal to capture an audience - and this little murder mystery from the tiny Southall studio seemed to tick all the boxes!! Not only were there a few sightings of some BBC radio personalities at the start (with a starry eyed fan sighing "isn't he handsome") but "20 Questions" was a very popular quiz program in it's day and the movie even featured a few of the original contestants although only Jeanne De Casalis received "guest artiste" credit!!Rona Anderson had been part of Rank's young ladies "charm school" but for some reason she just didn't stand out. She soon found herself trapped in Bs even though she once said "second features were not a good look - it looked like you hadn't quite made it"!! She was a lovely addition to any movie and her brisk resourcefulness usually gave more depth to the part than was often there. Here she played Mary vying for the big scoop with fellow reporter from a rival paper Robert Beatty and with all the chauvinistic wisecracks typical of the early 1950s. Both she and Bob happen to be in the audience of "20 Questions" when a question is sent in by a listener (an unusual occurrence) - the team get a lot of fun with linking Rikitikitavi to a mongoose!! Next morning an avid listener of the program awakes to find her husband dead - his name is Riki Tavi and a stuffed mongoose they bought back from India has pride of place on the mantle. After another murder the intrepid pair find that India is the link - and the connection is a trial where a violent man was sentenced to life for killing an Indian servant. He is now back in Britain under an assumed name and thirsting for revenge from all the people who put him behind bars!!There are boundless clues but no one seems interested - an Indian manservant Mahoomed Ali mentions a strange man who feeds the pigeons in the park but only viewers will link the clues, the cast are all too busy pointing an accusatory finger at Ali, even though he spends the movie scared witless that he is going to be the next victim!!Clifford Evans turns up in a pivotal role - he seems the only cast member who had seen better movie days (a leading role in "Love on the Dole" (1941)) but by the 1950s was firmly ensconced in the Bs!!

lucyrfisher The real-life 20 Questions radio parlour game panel become involved in a murder mystery. The BBC stars play themselves, and come across as natural and witty, especially Jeanne de Casalis and Richard Dimbleby. There are a lot of in-jokes, several referring back to the wartime radio comedy ITMA, in which Jack Train played a bibulous Colonel. (His catchphrase was "I don't mind if I do.") There is a rather tasteless running gag about his drinking habits. The cast also send up the sonorous BBC sign-off of "Goodnight everybody, goodnight."The script is literate, and the clues require a knowledge of Shakespeare. Rona Anderson (later Mrs Gordon Jackson) is excellent as an aspiring newswoman who finds she's disbarred from the Cheshire Cheese. It's a pub, and in those days women were only allowed in the restaurant. Who wants to go back to the 50s? (30 years later, bar staff were grudgingly coming round to the idea that they might take orders from women – you just had to stand there for half an hour while they ignored you.)

malcolmgsw The programme "20 Questions" was a very popular programme on BBC radio.So the producers clearly had the idea of cashing in on its popularity at the cinema.So they concocted this film.The first 10 minutes and the last 5 are a recreation of a show.The prospective murderer manages to get a topic u8sed which would supposedly be a clue to his first murder.Now why he would do that and why anyone would guess it was a clue is never explained.After 2 murders it is realised that this is a clue.However the lack of tension is a real problem as the real murderer is easy to guess.The last clue is rather baffling leading everyone in the wrong direction.So instead of going to kill someone he had a grudge against he decides to kill a woman reporter who he believes could recognise him.Now bearing in mind that the murderer had dispatched his victims in about 5 seconds flat,he becomes involved in a long drawn out climax in the reporters flat where he talks about killing her and of course in the end the police lead by another reporter,Robert Beatty,get to the flat in the knick of time to save the woman.This film lasts 93minutes and it is about 20 minutes too long.It is directed in a perfunctory manner which robs the film of any suspense.