The Edgar Wallace Mysteries

Bang! You're Dead

Assassin For Hire

Dead Lucky

Deadly Record

Do You Know This Voice

The Night Won't Talk

Offbeat

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by various
UK 1960

One of the twentieth century’s most successful crime novelists, Edgar Wallace’s thrillers have been widely adapted for film and television -the most memorable of which are the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series, made at Merton Park Studios during the first half of the 1960s. A noir-esque series, it updates some of the author’s stories to more contemporary settings, blending classic B-movie elements with a distinctly British feel. Unseen for decades and freshly transferred from the original film elements, all 47 films are included in this Anthology set alongside a wealth of special features.

***DISC ONE***
*CLUE OF THE TWISTED CANDLE - What do a wealthy foreigner in fear of
his life and a young man who has confessed to a shooting have in common? Supt. Meredith investigates - and he doesn't like what he
finds.
Starring Bernard Lee, David Knight and Francis de Wolff. Directed by Allan Davis.

*MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE - A prison escapee's plans of getting his hands on £20,000 go awry when he discovers his girlfriend has married the ex-DI who arrested him in the first place.
Starring John Cairney, Harry H. Corbett and Moira Redmond. Directed by
Clive Donner.

*SPECIAL FEATURE - URGE TO KILL - A local pub owner's daughter is found dead in the area of the town docks - her clothes ripped off and her body mutilated. The police are unable to find any definite leads, but the townspeople have other ideas...
Starring Patrick Barr, Howard Pays and Ruth Dunning. Directed by Vernon Sewell.

***DISC TWO***
*THE MAN WHO WAS NOBODY - Two men are searching for James Tynewood, a young tearaway: one is a police inspector, while the other is his solicitor. But Tynewood has mysteriously disappeared...
Starring Hazel Court, John Crawford, Lisa Daniely, Jack Watson and Paul Eddington. Directed by Montgomery Tully.

*PARTNERS IN CRIME - Wealthy company director Harry Strickland is found dead and his safe has been burgled. Only a small amount of money was taken, however, which puzzles the police.
Starring Bernard Lee, Moira Redmond and John Van Eyssen. Directed by Peter Duffell.

*CLUE OF THE NEW PIN - The locked door of a vault, with the key lying on a table beside a dead man, presents Superintendent Carver with a baffling case of murder, for he must find how the murderer managed to lock the door and replace the key on the table!
Starring Paul Daneman, Bernard Archard and James Villiers. Directed by Allan Davis.

***DISC THREE***
*THE FOURTH SQUARE - Bill Lawrence, a young lawyer, turns detective when one of his clients, Nina Stewart, becomes caught up in a murder and a burglary.
Starring Conrad Phillips, Natasha Parry, Delphi Lawrence and Paul Daneman. Directed by Allan Davis.

*SPECIAL FEATURE - OCTOBER MOTH - A disturbed young man lives with his dysfunctional family in an isolated house in the country. While out collecting moths in the dark he causes a car to run off the road: rescuing the injured female passenger, he takes her back to his room.
Starring Lee Patterson, Lana Morris and Peter Dyneley. Directed by John Kruse.

Posters

Reviews

DVD Review: Network (The Edgar Wallace Anthology) - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover

Distribution	Network Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	(4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.65:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital Mono (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Network Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.65:1 Edition Details: • Urge to Kill (56:38) - 5.53 mb/s; 11 chapters • Clue of the Twisted Candle (59:04) - 5.51 mb/s; 11 chapters • Marriage of Convenience (55:48) - 5.53 mb/s; 11 chapters • The Man Who Was Nobody (55:16) - 5.53 mb/s; 11 chapters • Partners in Crime (52:00) - 5.55 mb/s; 10 chapters • Clue of the New Pin (56:08) - 5.55 mb/s; 10 chapters • The Fourth Square (54:34) - 5.54 mb/s; 10 chapters • October Moth (52:26) - 5.6 mb/s; 10 chapters • Image Gallery (2:54) • pdf files of promotional materials DVD Release Date: 30 July 2012 3 discs in a keep case Chapters

More Network DVDs DVDBeaver has reviewed:

Edgar Wallace Mysteries	Edgar Wallace Mysteries Vol. 1	Edgar Wallace Mysteries Vol. 2	Edgar Wallace Mysteries Vol. 3	Edgar Wallace Mysteries Vol. 4	Edgar Wallace Mysteries Vol. 5	Edgar Wallace Mysteries Vol. 6	Edgar Wallace Mysteries Vol. 7

Comments

The first time I heard about the films of Edgar Wallace Mystery series was from the excellent reference book British Film Noir Guide by Michael F. Keaney. There were 46 films produced by Jack Greenwood and Merton Park Studios. The very first feature, URGE TO KILL, also produced by Greenwood, was based on a novel and play by Gerald Savory, so it was not officially part of the series, but later included in the package. THE MAN IN THE BACK SEAT from Volume 5 and THE MALPAS MYSTERY from Volume 6 were produced by Julian Wintle and Leslie Parkyn for Independent Artists and later included in TV series Edgar Wallace Presents... with other 46 Merton Park Studios films. The series were very popular in UK and sold to US as The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre, each episode edited to around 45 minutes to fit a one-hour time slot. Feature that was later included in the package, but not present in this set is Gerry Anderson's CROSSROADS TO CRIME, released on DVD separately with some extras. Of special note in volume 1 are URGE TO KILL, a very atmospheric first feature and CLUE OF THE TWISTED CANDLE that introduces Bernard Lee as Supt. Meredith and Stanley Morgan as Sgt. Anson who would resume the roles in a few more films in the series. Of noir interest are MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE, THE MAN WHO WAS NOBODY and CLUE OF THE NEW PIN.

Network released 47 Merton Park Studios films as part of The Edgar Wallace Mysteries Collection spread out over 7 volumes and later packaged into a 20-disc set. 7 Independent Artists films produced by Julian Wintle and Leslie Parkyn for Independent Artists and released around the same time are available as an extra feature on each disc.

StudioCanal logo starts off each film. The films are progressively transferred in theatrical aspect ratio of 1.65:1. The anamorphic transfers looks excellent, with strong contrast and very minimal damage on the prints. Some films suffer from poor soundtrack and this is where the optional English subtitles would have helped. All discs are dual layered except the single-layered third disc from Volume 1. Each set includes extras on the third disc (second disc in Volume 7) - an image gallery, pdf promotional materials and an extra feature. Volume 1 has OCTOBER MOTH - the only film directed by John Kruse, the screenwriter of HELL DRIVERS. A 12-page booklet with notes on each film and insightful essays on the series by Kim Newman rounds off each volume. Discs are labeled as region 2, but are actually region free.

- Gregory Meshman

DVD Menus