View source for The Murder Game (1965 film)

{{Short description|1965 British film by Sidney Salkow}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Murder Game
| image          = The_Murder_Game_film_Theatrical_release_poster_(1965).png
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Sidney Salkow]]
| producer       = [[Robert L. Lippert]]<br>Jack Parsons
| writer         = [[Harry Spalding]]
| based_on       = story by Irving Yergin
| starring       = [[Ken Scott (actor)|Ken Scott]]<br>[[Marla Landi]]<br>[[Trader Faulkner]]<br>[[Conrad Phillips]]<br>[[Gerald Sim]]<br>[[Duncan Lamont]]
| music          = [[Carlo Martelli]]
| cinematography = [[Geoffrey Faithfull]]
| editing        = Robert Winter
| studio         = [[Lippert Pictures]]
| distributor    = [[20th Century-Fox]]
| released       = {{film date|df=y|1965|12||USA}}
| runtime        = 76 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
}}
'''''The Murder Game''''' is a 1965 British [[crime film]] directed by [[Sidney Salkow]] and starring [[Ken Scott (actor)|Ken Scott]], [[Marla Landi]], [[Trader Faulkner]] and [[Conrad Phillips]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Murder Game |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150044484 |access-date=4 May 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It was written by [[Harry Spalding]] based on a story by Irving Yergin. It was distributed by [[Twentieth Century-Fox]].<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|1305826167}} |title=MURDER GAME, The |journal=Monthly Film Bulletin |location=London |volume=33 |issue=384 |date=1 January 1966 |page=95 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Crowther |first1=Bosley |title=Screen: Paul Newman in 'Harper' Evokes Bogart:Detective Film Opens at 3 Theaters Here (Published 1966) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/31/archives/screen-paul-newman-in-harper-evokes-bogartdetective-film-opens-at-3.html |work=The New York Times |date=31 March 1966 }}</ref>
It was the last film directed by Salkow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/work/the-murder-game-103179|title=The Murder Game (1966) - Sidney Salkow - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie|website=[[AllMovie]]|accessdate=9 September 2017}}</ref>
==Plot==
While on his honeymoon, a husband discovers the plan of his bigamous wife with her first husband to murder him for his money and he plans counter measures to throw the blame on them.
==Cast==
* [[Ken Scott (actor)|Ken Scott]] as Steve Baldwin
* [[Marla Landi]] as Marie Aldrich
* [[Trader Faulkner]] as Chris Aldrich
* [[Conrad Phillips]] as Peter Shanley
* [[Gerald Sim]] as Larry Landstrom
* [[Duncan Lamont]] as Inspector Telford
* Peter Bathurst as Dr. Knight
* [[Ballard Berkeley]] as Sir Colin Chalmers
* [[Victor Brooks (actor)|Victor Brooks]] as Rev Francis Hood
* [[Dyan Cannon]]
* John Dunbar as Parkhill
* [[Gretchen Franklin]] as landlady
* [[Clement Freud]] as croupier
* [[Jimmy Gardner (actor)|Jimmy Gardner]] as Arthur Gillett
* [[Rosamund Greenwood]] as Mrs. Potter
* [[Derek Partridge]] as Police Sergeant
* John Richmond as prosecutor
* [[Frank Thornton]] as radio announcer
== Critical reception ==
''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "Competent thriller, directed without frills and with a happy disregard for coincidence. The acting is efficient, if undistinguished, and the plot moves along at a pace fast enough to encompass one or two moments of suspense. But the character motivation is sketchy, and the irony of the climax laboured."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1966 |title=The Murder Game |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305826167/7413F93372D74050PQ/1 |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=33 |issue=384 |pages=95 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote: "''The Murder Game'' is a slow-paced British melodrama that is generally too wordy and lacking in punch&nbsp;... does have some good moments of suspense and a fine realistic round of fisticuffs, with black and white camera work by Gerry Massey-Collier showing to advantage. Faulkner is a talented actor, who comes across as well as he can under thie circumstances, Miss Landi, an attractive brunet [''sic''], is convincing as the scheming wife, but the storyline is lacking in an explanation of some of her past deeds that lead her to do in her new husband. Scott is capable enough, although he seems to be playing his part in a tongue-in-cheek manner. In general, however, the film is ineffective, lacking in pace and fumbling along."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=13 April 1966 |title=The Murder Game |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1017130509/7D1053C5905E4E5DPQ/1 |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |volume=242 |issue=8 |pages=20 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{IMDb title| tt0059484|The Murder Game (1965)}}
{{Sidney Salkow}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder Game, The}}
[[Category:1965 films]]
[[Category:British crime drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Sidney Salkow]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]
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