An Honourable Murder (1960)

Director: Godfrey Grayson

Cast: Norman Wooland, Margaretta Scott, Lisa Daniely

Synopsis: An updated version of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar  with Caesar as the chairman of a board of directors considering a merger with another company.

Things are buzzing at Empire Petroleum. A merger with Pompeii Shipping, which will give Julian Caesar and his board more power than they could ever have dreamed of, is on the cards. However, board member R. Cassius suspects that Caesar’s personal ambitions overshadow both his own and other board members’ futures, so he orchestrates a boardroom takeover that will have fatal consequences.

Yes, it’s the story of Julius Caesar updated to the modern era, and despite generally low ratings, An Honourable Murder is not too bad. A little dry, perhaps, but then a talky story played out in offices and boardrooms is hardly likely to get pulses racing. The acting’s variable, with Norman Wooland a little overwrought at times as the wretched Brutus; honours go to Philip Saville, whose last acting role this would be before embarking on a lengthy career as a TV director, as Mark Anthony.

(Reviewed 9th March 2012)