Murder on the Home Front

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source: Murder on the Home Front

This was almost camp, it was so amateur. The acting was incredibly lame. The main guy was okay but everyone else was absolutely terrible. Production was okay if a little like a TV miniseries, but otherwise I struggled to watch this.

I found the cliched opening scene where he picks up an unknown woman in a bar and tried to get off with her bad enough. But then, when he was called to examine a body, he left at least 2 lights on and the electric fire burning when he left his flat - just so completely anachronistic and unbelievable that I was struggling. Quickly followed by another lame device of the girl reporter (presumably) managing to barge into the murder scene. I switched off at that point - too inaccurate and irritating for me I'm afraid.

"Murder at the Home Front" is based on the memoirs of Molly Lefebure, secretary to pathologist Dr Keith Simpson (the pathologist) during WW II. She was the first woman to work in a mortuary, and known by Scotland Yard as "Miss Molly." During the London blitz, Dr. Lennox Collins (Patrick Kennedy) is assigned to do an autopsy on a prostitute who was strangled and a swastika carved on her tongue. Merchant is Molly Cooper, a reporter who becomes Collins' assistant. The chief suspect is a German, Wilfred Ziegler, who discovered the body. However, he is left-handed and the killer was right-handed. The trail leads to a club, the Metropole, where Mary spent a lot of time. Molly goes there and meets the club's owner, Danny. Two more women are murdered, and a gay actor, Ronald Terry, is put at the scene. Then Terry commits suicide, it seems, though after Lennox and Molly investigate, it turns out to be murder. Ziegler confesses and is sentenced to be hanged, though Collins is not convinced. He begins to suspect a conspiracy - at the very top. This film took a few hits from reviewers here, possibly because people were expecting more, along the lines of Foyle's War. Well, Foyle's War has no peers as far as I'm concerned. This was okay, not as terrible as described. The character of Lennox Collins (Patrick Kennedy) is based on a famous pathologist, Keith Simpson, a pioneer in the field, who solved many murder case. Kennedy gives a solid and probably a realistic performance of a dedicated doctor. If it wasn't the most exciting thing you've ever seen, I imagine he was going for an accurate approach. I didn't think Tazmin Merchant was so bad - compared to whom? The actors on Beverly Hills 90210? She was fine, and as far as no chemistry with Dr. Collins, I thought the scene at the end had plenty of chemistry and was lovely. I will concede there were some silly choices made, such as a lit street during the blackout and a certain amount of predictability. It looks like this was supposed to be a series, as there is one listed on IMDb.

Any comment that this film is based upon the wartime memoirs of Molly Lefebure are stretching such a claim beyond all recognition. Clearly the reason for doing so was to attract viewers, but there is a world of difference between a bit of poetic licence and a complete deviation from an original story. Had the makers not "lifted" the title from Ms Lefebure's book nor come up with a fictional "case," it would have just been another second rate film and one you would be unlikely to recommend to your friends. As with the American film U-571 (supposedly about a bunch of US sailors capturing the first Enigma coding machine) this film was so far from the truth it completely failed to reflect what was an interesting (and for the most part factually accurate) narrative of Ms Lefebure's experiences working for a Home Office pathologist. I really am no expert and am certainly not a purist when it comes to films, but had the film reflected the author's experiences of working with Dr (and later Professor) Keith Simpson in war torn London and the Home Counties or, had it followed just one of the many head-lining cases investigated by him, it could have been immensely enjoyable. As it was, it just left me completely flat.

Tamzin Merchant in superb form. The costumes were excellent. This drama truly reeked of the 40's. A great story that could easily been stretched to 120 minutes, and it's rare to say that. Put simply this was a marvelous bit of telly. A curtain call for all involved. It would be great to have another episode.

Not a lot of info on this one on IMDb, probably because it began as a British TV movie. It's on netflix now. Set during WW II, we follow the "Molly", who works with detectives and forensic scientists as they try to track down a prostitute's murderer. Then another murder. They must try to find the bad guy as the clues and crime scenes are all getting erased by the German bombs. It's actually quite good. Moves along slowly but surely. And of course, opium must be involved, since the original writer had also studied opioids. Some clever blending of scenes... at one point, they talk about knives, and we fade into someone carving a hunk of meat. Another time, we start by looking at a mirror ball in a dance hall, which turns into the bright, full moon. The murder victims all have some things in common, and we don't really have any obvious suspects. We plod along, following the slow progress, but it's pretty entertaining. Also the usual wartime issues, such as fifth column spies, homosexuality, woman's lib. Directed by Geoffrey Sax, who has done a mix of British TV series and films. Looks like he worked exclusively in TV from the 1970s until about 2005, when he made a few films. This seems to be the memoirs of Molly Lefebure, who was a writer... lived from 1919 to 2013. Apparently she wrote about 20 books, among them studies on Coleridge and his family. Quite an interesting write-up on wikipedia. She actually DID work with a pathologist, and worked in a mortuary, no doubt gathering knowledge for her novels.

My wife and I loved this film. The setting, music, special effects were all enjoyable. Acting was good, if not great, but fitting for the wartime storyline. This is far better than mist of the junk on the mainstream American networks. The central characters were interesting and we'd love to see another.

A killer uses the backdrop of the Blitz to disguise their crimes. What an absolutely brilliant ninety minutes of drama this was. The Blitz setting is an excellent backdrop for a murder mystery, the crimes are nasty and the detection is intriguing. You could be forgiven for thinking that Dr Collins had landed there from the future, but these pioneers certainly existed, leading to the technologies used today. Fabulous characters, all beautifully acted. The two central characters, Lennox and Molly are a joy to watch, the chemistry between Patrick Kennedy and Tamzin Merchant is the quite wonderful and helps to engage you. At times it's dark, serious and also funny, it's instantly a drama that grips you, it also boasts a fabulous ending which manages to crank up the tension. Bravo, I thought this was excellent. 9/10