Doctor Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress

The Case of the Missing Heiress

Heiress Cynthia Mason disappears in mysterious circumstances just as she is about to come into her inheritance and elope with her boyfriend, Peter Lorimer. Worried by her disappearance, her friend Miss Frayle, who is also assistant to amateur detective Doctor Morelle, takes it upon herself to investigate. Masquerading as a housemaid, Miss Frayle travels to Cynthia’s remote West Country mansion home, where she encounters her friend’s intimidating, wheelchair-bound stepfather, Mr Kimber. Miss Frayle soon finds herself out of her depth and, when Bensall, the butler, is murdered and she finds her own life to be in danger, she makes a desperate telephone call to her boss, Doctor Morelle, begging him for help…

Production Details

A Hammer – Edward G. Whiting production released by Exclusive Films.
Ernest Dudleys famous character of “Monday Night at Eight”. Adapted from a play by Wilfred Burr.
Recorded by United Programmes

Black & White 73 minutes

Filming Began: 15 November 1948
UK Release: 27 June 1949

Studio:
Dial Close Court, Winter Hill, Cookham, Berkshire

Stills from the film

Click an image for enlarged slideshow

Cast & Crew

Red = Uncredited


Crew	Name	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Credits	Uncredited	Total Hammer
Art Director	James Marchant						5		5
Assistant Director	Bob Jones						2		2
Camera Operator	Peter Bryan	29	28 Sep 1919		Sep 1972	52	22		22
Casting	Mary Harris						5	2	7
Continuity	E. Chapman						1		1
Director	Godfrey Grayson	35	2 Aug 1913		1 Jun 1998	84	11		11
Director of Photography	Cedric Williams	36	1913		1999	86	7		7
Editor	Ray Pitt						5	3	8
Hair Stylist	E Hollis						1		1
Make-up	Marjorie Green						1		1
Musical Director	Frank Spencer	38	19 Jun 1911		Feb 1975	63	22	1	23
Musical Director	Rupert Grayson						8		8
Playwright	Wilfred Burr						1		1
Producer	https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/anthony-hinds/#	26	18 Sep 1922		30 Sep 2013	91	86	3	89
Producer	Edward G Whiting						1		1
Production Manager	Alfred Barnes						1		1
Production Manager	Arthur Barnes	63	1886		1956	70	20		20
Screenplay	Ambrose Grayson						3		3
Screenplay	Roy Plomley	35	20 Jan 1914		28 May 1985	71	2		2
Sound Recordist	Edgar Vetter	36	27 Jan 1913		15 Dec 1988	75	15		15
Still Photographer	Edgar Wrather						1	1	2

Cast	Name	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Credits	Uncredited	Total Hammer
Bensall	Hugh Griffith	37	30 May 1912		14 May 1980	67	1		1
Cynthia Mason	Jean Lodge	21	4 Aug 1927	04.08.1927		97	3		3
Doctor Morelle	Valentine Dyall	42	7 May 1907		24 Jun 1985	78	3	1	4
Inspector	Sidney Vivian	48	18 Apr 1901		22 Dec 1984	83	3		3
Kimber	Philip Leaver	44	11 Jul 1904		1981	76	2		2
Miss Frayle	Julia Lang	28	1921		1 Apr 2010	89	1		1
Peter Lorimer	Peter Drury						1		1
With	Bruce Walker	43	4 Sep 1905		7 Mar 1973	67	1	1	2
With	James Raglan	48	6 Jun 1901		15 Nov 1961	60	3	1	4
With	John Sharp	28	5 Aug 1920		26 Nov 1992	72	5		5

Original Poster

Click to enlarge

Footnotes

With his distinctive, deep, resonant voice, Valentine Dyall was often called on to play sinister roles, including those of Dr Fell in Hammer’s Room to Let (1949), long dead warlock Jethrow Keane in The City of the Dead (1960 with Christopher Lee), grim caretaker Dudley in Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) and, in later years, The Black Guardian in BBC TV’s Doctor Who.

Hugh Griffith, who plays the butler, Bensall, in this film, went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1959 for his role as Sheikh Ilderim in the epic movie Ben Hur.

1949 BBFC Cert. “A”