| Dead Man's Chest | |
| Director: | Patrick Dromgoole |
| Screenplay: | Donal Giltinan |
| Producer: | Jack Greenwood |
| Starring: | John Thaw Ann Firbank John Meillon |
| Editing: | Derek Holding |
| Music: | Bernard Ebbinghouse |
| Studio: | Merton Park Studios |
| Distributor: | Anglo-Amalgamated |
| Runtime: | 59 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Dead Man's Chest is a 1965 British second feature[1] film directed by Patrick Dromgoole and starring John Thaw, Ann Firbank and John Meillon.[2] It is part of the series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios.
Hard-up journalists David Jones and Johnnie Gordon decide to play a hoax, faking a murder to highlight the danger of circumstantial evidence in the criminal justice system. But things go terribly wrong. Gordon is trapped in a wooden chest in the boot of a stolen car, whereabouts unknown. Panicking that Gordon will suffocate, Jones goes to the police, who think the entire story is a lie. They find the circumstantial evidence deliberately planted by Jones and Gordon as part of their original plan, and Jones is arrested for murder. Jones's wife goes to Scotland in search of Gordon's girlfriend and through her finds Gordon in hiding, working in a hotel. Jones is released.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Competently acted and presented, this B picture impresses most through Donal Giltinan's quite inventive though highly improbable story, which manages to keep the fairly intricate plot unentangled, even if there is something a little glib about the ending. An unambitious but efficient little film of its class."[3]