You will likely never see this. There's scant market pull for such things, as it is a rather dull movie and relies on conventions that just don't work today.
But its interesting. Its quite a bit later than the filmed detective stories that fascinate me so much. Those are from the 30s and are interesting because the experiments actually changed how movies work.
Something this late, especially if it is from a small UK studio is merely an echo, but still interesting. In the 30's there was an Hildegarde Withers mystery series that featured what's now called a "primary" school teacher in the US who solves crimes leveraging her teacherness. Its a darn clever notion because in the detective narrative you already are juggling several things: the game between the writer and viewer to invent a reality that makes sense, the role of the detective as a sort of avatar or not, the role of the camera as a tool of discovery and revealing. All these move into each other and out, perhaps with some noir goddess of fate.
Then you often have a second character. In the Holmes story it was an avatar for the writer.
The "teacher" experiment is rich in all sorts of possibilities. In the Hildegarde Withers version is was simply played for comedy, the detective played by James Gleason who was a sort of master of frustration as he was outdetected by such a woman. Its like Miss Marple in many ways, but the addition of the teacher role changed it radically.
In this case, the detective is a smooth handsome gent not only from Scotland yard but actually from Scotland which is soon to separate from the UK and is why I selected this film today.
The teacher is a senior administrator as a school for prepubescent girls, though all the teachers look to be in their early twenties except one sort of a giveaway for the mystery. In this case, we have our young woman literally as the narrator who reports to the blond Scot. Her name is Shepherd! Its not an interesting film, nor even an interesting mystery. But it is an interesting experiment in the form.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
But its interesting. Its quite a bit later than the filmed detective stories that fascinate me so much. Those are from the 30s and are interesting because the experiments actually changed how movies work.
Something this late, especially if it is from a small UK studio is merely an echo, but still interesting. In the 30's there was an Hildegarde Withers mystery series that featured what's now called a "primary" school teacher in the US who solves crimes leveraging her teacherness. Its a darn clever notion because in the detective narrative you already are juggling several things: the game between the writer and viewer to invent a reality that makes sense, the role of the detective as a sort of avatar or not, the role of the camera as a tool of discovery and revealing. All these move into each other and out, perhaps with some noir goddess of fate.
Then you often have a second character. In the Holmes story it was an avatar for the writer.
The "teacher" experiment is rich in all sorts of possibilities. In the Hildegarde Withers version is was simply played for comedy, the detective played by James Gleason who was a sort of master of frustration as he was outdetected by such a woman. Its like Miss Marple in many ways, but the addition of the teacher role changed it radically.
In this case, the detective is a smooth handsome gent not only from Scotland yard but actually from Scotland which is soon to separate from the UK and is why I selected this film today.
The teacher is a senior administrator as a school for prepubescent girls, though all the teachers look to be in their early twenties except one sort of a giveaway for the mystery. In this case, we have our young woman literally as the narrator who reports to the blond Scot. Her name is Shepherd! Its not an interesting film, nor even an interesting mystery. But it is an interesting experiment in the form.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.