The Orchard End Murder
DVD cover
Directed byChristian Marnham
Written byChristian Marnham
Produced byJulian Harvey
Starring
CinematographyPeter Jessop
Edited byPeter Goddard
Music bySam Sklair
Production
company
Marnham & Harvey Productions
Distributed byG.T.O. Films Ltd.
Release date
  • 11 January 1981 (1981-01-11)
Running time
48 minutes
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish

The Orchard End Murder is a 1980 British short thriller film directed and written by Christian Marnham, and starring Tracy Hyde, Bill Wallis, Clive Mantle, and Raymond Adamson. It marked the film debut of Clive Mantle.[1][2] The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 1 November 1981 as a support to Dead & Buried.

Plot

In Charthurst Green, Kent in 1966, Pauline Cox accompanies her boyfriend Mike Robins to a village cricket match in which he is playing, but becomes bored and wanders away. She fetches up at the local railway halt, where she meets and is entertained to tea by an eccentric railway gatekeeper. She later meets his half-witted assistant Ewen who was earlier seen watching Pauline with Mike and upsets her when he proceeds to kill a rabbit in her presence. Making her way back to the match, Pauline is waylaid by the simple-minded Ewen as she crosses an apple orchard; when his advances become violent, she tries to fight him off while he sexually assaults and strangles her which ultimately leads to her death. That evening, the gatekeeper discovers Ewen with Pauline's body in the shack where he lives, and later helps him bury the corpse in the orchard. The next day, however, Ewen inadvertently betrays himself: the body is disinterred by the police and Ewen breaks down hysterically. Years later, the gatekeeper, who has disavowed Ewen, encourages the friendship of another village youth.

Cast

  • Tracy Hyde as Pauline Cox
  • Clive Mantle as Ewen
  • Bill Wallis as Railway Gatekeeper
  • Raymond Adamson as Mr. Wickstead
  • Jessie Evans as Mrs. Trowel
  • Mollie Maureen as Old Lady at Station
  • Cyril Cross as Village Policeman
  • Mark Hardy as Robins
  • David Wilkinson as Batsman
  • Geoffrey Frederick as Cricket Captain
  • Peter Hutchins as Detective
  • Alexander John as Radio News Reader
  • Alan Neame as Rector
  • Rik Mayall as Policeman (uncredited)

References

  1. ↑ Group, Gale; Kondek, Joshua; Angela, Yvonne Jones (3 December 1999). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Gale. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-7876-3185-7. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Speed, F. Maurice (1983). Film Review. ISBN 9780491030120. Retrieved 26 March 2013.


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