The Brighton Strangler Synopsis: Celebrated actor Reginald Parker (John Loder) has just completed a successful run on the London stage with the hit play "The Brighton Strangler". The theater manager ruefully notes that he could easily run the show for another year, and he’s sorry that Parker has decided to hang up the role. So arresting is Parker’s performance that there’s no thought of bringing in another actor to play author-turned-murderer Edward Grey. For audiences Parker is The Strangler.

If you have had any contact with the "Method" school of acting you will know that central to its philosophy is the need for an actor to "inhabit" a role. In a homage to "Dr.Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde" this 1945 offering takes the idea to what might be seen as its logical conclusion.

It is December 23rd, and after wishing the cast and crew a happy Christmas, Parker prepares to leave the theater and rejoin his wife, who is also the author of the play. But German bombers are making a nighttime raid on London. Numerous bombs hit the neighborhood and the theater is destroyed. Parker staggers away from the ruined building. He’s gotten a nasty knock on the head and he is in a daze. Has he forgotten who he is? Not exactly; he remembers that he’s Edward Grey, and he heads to Victoria Station and buys a ticket to Brighton...

Although the film has acquired cult status and is now out of copyright it is quite difficult to track down in its original black-and-white format. It is not on YouTube and only the colourised vesion re-released by RKO in February of this year is readily available on DVD.

The version here was given to me by someone who knows how much I love black-and-white noir films. The picture quality is not the best you will ever see but it's perfectly watchable. The original was probably recorded from analog TV. Think of it as "atmosphere".

David.