Boris Karloff is great as Colonel March, an eye patch wearing, straight talking Detective, who often talks directly to the camera. Carr had used the character only once in his 1940 short story collection The Department of Queer Complaints, in which there is a subdivision of Scotland Yard that specialises in crimes of a curious or apparently impossible nature. The series was financed by the Americans and starred international film star Boris Karloff - most famous for playing the Chinese-American detective Mr Wong and, of course, Frankenstein's Monster. At this point in his long career, Karloff was a frequent guest on American radio series and even had his own show for children in which he read stories and told riddles. In 1952, he returned to England and made three episodes for ITV which acted as pilots for a longer series. Eventually, twenty six were produced, all of which were a brisk 25 minutes long.

Stage Magician: In "The Case of the Misguided Missal", Real Life stage magician Chan Canasta appears As Himself: brought in by March to demonstrate how the missing book could have been stolen from the safe. Sword Cane: March's iconic umbrella is also a sword cane. He undoubtedly bought it at the same place as John Steed.

See also

Compilation Movie: Colonel March Investigates is a 1953 British film consisting of the three pilot episodes of the TV series. The series was made at Southall Studios in Middlesex, England (and, later, Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames, England) and was produced by Fountain Films for ITV. In July 1952, Karloff and his wife Evelyn sailed to England, where Karloff filmed three different pilot episodes to be shown to TV executives. While awaiting a decision on more episodes, the three pilots were combined into a feature film called Colonel March Investigates (1953). In 1953, Karloff returned to England to film 23 more episodes, making a total of 26. Colonel March Investigates is a 1953 British film consisting of the three pilot episodes of the TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard that were filmed in 1952, starring Boris Karloff. [1] [2] [3] These episodes were "Hot Money", "Death in the Dressing Room" and "The New Invisible Man". [4] The episode "The Talking Head" uses the complete version of the original theme tune during the end credits. It was usually truncated and faded up whilst some way through. The show's slightly mysterious and threatening theme tune was changed for the episodes "Error at Daybreak" and "The Silver Curtain" to a piece of jaunty, faster-paced music that had originally been used in previous episodes to accompany shots of a busy city. Clothing Combat: In "The Case of the Misguided Missal", the Victim of the Week is strangled with a scarf. the scarf is then left on the body in an attempt to frame the scarf's owner.

The Colonel March TV series premiered first in the United States from Dec. 1954 to Spring of 1955, with a total of 26 episodes. It was only broadcast on television in England in 1955 on Associated Television (ITV London, weekends), broadcast on 26 consecutive Saturday evenings from September 24, 1955 until March 17, 1956. [5] [6] CRIME FILMS from 1944 to 1966 including rare gems such as The Girl on the Pier with Veronica Hurst and the once lost short, Vacant Possession, with Brian Murphy and Daphne Heard. Sid James and Bonar Colleano star in Escape by Night and Boris Karloff investigates as Colonel March. Watch out for several well known faces, you'll see Ronald Leigh Hunt, Joan Sims, Richard Wattis, Sheila Burrell and more. Inspector Lestrade: Inspector Ames usually fails spot the intricacies of a case, ignores any incongruent evidence as inconvenient, and is always keen to arrest the most obvious suspect. However, he is willing to admit that March is usually right, and is the officer that March most relies on at the Yard.

Contribute to This Page

The three cases flow fairly well together, it doesn't feel cobbled together at any point. If you can access the TV series, I'd recommend it, as a few of the cases are very interesting.

Karloff filmed bits of onscreen narration to help unite the three stories and these scenes are exclusive to the compilation film only. [ citation needed] The show starred Boris Karloff as the urbane, tweed-wearing, eye-patched sleuth. No reason was ever given for the wearing of the patch. Other regular actors included Ewan Roberts as Inspector Ames of Scotland Yard and Eric Pohlmann as Inspector Goron of the Paris Sûreté. (In the episode "The Second Mona Lisa", Pohlmann played a Middle Eastern character called The Emir.) Roberts' Scottish accent grows stronger as the series progresses, from posh English in the some episodes to strong Scottish burr for others. Continuity Nod: In "Death in the Dressing Room", Colonel March attends a masked event at a nightclub wearing the rubber demon mask worn by the bank robber in "Hot Money". A formerly ‘lost’ British short, directed by Peter Moffatt. Cast: Daphne Heard, Brian Murphy, Geoffrey Hinsliff, John J. Carney, Julie Lynton,Director: Roy Kellino. An episode from the TV series Four Star Theatre starring: Ida Lupino, Ralph Moody, Walter Coy & Richard Lupino. So far as I am aware, Episode 4 ("At Night All Cats are Gray") was the only occasion during which Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee ever appeared together. For that reason alone this series is worth a look. Follow That Car: In "Hot Money", a bank clerk who has just been robbed chases the robber out of the bank and jumps in a taxi and gets it to follow the getaway car.

From Camouflage to Criminal: In "The Headless Hat", the mysterious 'Monsieur Z' was a leader of La Résistance during WWII. However, when the war ended, rather than returning, Z stayed in the shadows and used their skills at organization and subterfuge to take control of the Marseilles underworld. La Résistance: In "The Headless Hat", March befriends Mrs. Sargent: an English widow living in France. She tells him that her late husband was part-French, and they were both members of the French Resistance. She also reveals that 'Monsieur Z', the head of the underworld in Marseilles, is a former Resistance leader, and she may be one of the only people to know him by sight.It is also a very cleaver detective series featuring the inimitable Boris Karloff as a brilliant and unconventional one-eyed Scotland Yard sleuth. That is not the sort of role with which Boris Karloff is generally associated. However, he was actually a highly accomplished actor who was quite capable of playing all sorts of parts. It was no fault of his that he ended up being type cast as a "monster. For example, prior to his memorable performance the 1931 production of "Frankenstein", Karloff frequently appeared in gangster roles. Never Suicide: In "Passage of Arms", the killer attempts to make it look like the Victim of the Week committed suicide by leaving an empty bottle of sleeping pills by her body. However, he had actually smothered her with a Vorpal Pillow and then forced some of the pills down her throat after she was dead.