The Body Vanished (1939)
0h 46m | PG-13
A Scotland Yard inspector and his reporter friend arrive on vacation in a small village and are immediately involved in what is claimed to be a murder but the body has disappeared, leaving it to the inspector to find the body, determine the motive and find the killer.
Director: Walter Tennyson
Studio: Worton Hall Studios
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Video: 720p
Cast
Anthony Hulme
as Rodney Paine
C. Denier Warren
as Pip Piper
Ernest Sefton
as Sgt. Hopkins
Evelyn Foster
as Miss Casson (as Eve Foster)
Frank Atkinson
as Hobbleberry
Wilfred Noy
as Cuthbert Snelling
Reviews
A Scotland Yard inspector and his journalist pal head to a remote inn for a fishing holiday, only to discover (or not!) that a murder has been committed in this sleepy community and they have to investigate - without actually having the corpse! It's only 45 minutes long, moves quickly with some humour and doesn't hang about. The ending is predictable enough, but the performances by Anthony Hulme and Ernest Sefton - as the local sergeant - are good fun to watch. It does look a little like it's been filmed by candle-light and the editing is a bit ropey, but after 70 years it holds up quite well.