Scotland Yard

Edgar Lustgarten introduces

SCOTLAND YARD
1 The Drayton Case 7*
2 The Missing Man 4*
3 The Candlelight Murder 6*
4 The Blazing Caravan 8*
5 The Dark Stairway 5*
6 Late Night Final 4*
7 Fatal Journey 6*
8 The Strange Case of Blondie 7*
9 The Silent Witness 4*
10 Passenger to Tokyo 6*
11 Night Plane to Amsterdam 6*
12 The Stateless Man 3*

13 The Mysterious Bullet 2*
14 Murder Anonymous 3*
16 Case Of The River Morgue 4*
17 Destination Death 5*
18 Person Unknown 6*
19 The Lonely House 8*
20 Bullet from the Past 6*
21 Inside Information 5*
22 The Case of The Smiling Widow 6*
23 The Mail Van Murder 4*
24 The Tyburn Case 7*
25 The White Cliffs Mystery 6*
26 Night Crossing 5*

27 Print of Death 5*
28 Crime of Honour 5*
29 The Cross Road Gallows 5*
30 The Unseeing Eye 6*
31 The Ghost Train Murder 6*
32 The Dover Road Mystery 7*
33 The Last Train 5*
34 Evidence in Concrete 6*
35 The Silent Weapon 6*
36 The Grand Junction Case 5*
37 The Never Never Murder 6*
38 Wings Of Death 1*
39 The Square Mile Murder 4*

The most familar Yard inspector
played by Russell Napier

SCALES OF JUSTICE
1 The Guilty Party 2*
2 A Woman's Privilege 2*
3 Moment of Decision 3*
4 Position of Trust 1*
5 The Undesirable Neighbour 2*
6 Invisible Asset 5*
7 Personal and Confidential 2*
8 Hidden Face 4*
9 Material Witness 8*
10 Company of Fools 6*
11 The Haunted Man 5*
12 Infamous Conduct 1*
13 Payment in Kind 6*

"Scotland Yard" was a series of 39 films made at Merton Park Studios from 1953 to 1961 as cinema second features. From 1962 Edgar Lustgarten hosted 13 courtroom dramas under the title "Scales of Justice," the series ending in 1967 when the studios closed.
Scotland Yard was retitled Casebook, slightly cut to a 25 minute running time and shown on tv in the early sixties. Channel Four repeated much of the series with its original title Scotland Yard in the 80's, and also premiered for British TV, Scales of Justice. Bravo screened the same episodes of Scotland Yard in the 1990's.

The first introduction to Scotland Yard was pronounced in a dramatic voice thus- "Scotland Yard! Nerve centre of London's Metropolitan Police, headquarters of its Department of Criminal Investigation. Scotland Yard! A name that appears on almost every page of the annals of crime detection. Scotland Yard! Where night and day a determined body of men carry on a relentless unceasing crusade against crime. . . Stored deep in the heart of Scotland Yard are the records of thousands of cases, histories of every breach of the law from larceny to murder, stories of human weakness, of greed and envy, of cunning and stupidity."
A second more sober introduction coincided with new pictures shot in daylight of the area round the Yard: "Scotland Yard- nerve centre of London's department of criminal investigation. Here brains, science, routine and determination join forces in the constant war against crime. In the vaults beneath Scotland Yard are the histories of thousands of cases, evidence of the department's long standing and successful battle with the criminal."
A later introduction, was this- "London- greatest city in the world, and home of the oldest democracy. A city whose worldwide reputation for honesty and integrity is firmly based on a thousand years of the rule of law, enforced and safeguarded by a police force, whose headquarters is as well known as London itself- Scotland Yard! .. Filed in the Records Department of Scotland Yard are the histories of thousands of cases, evidence of the long standing and successful battle with the criminal."
Note- still missing is Scotland Yard #15 Wall of Death with Cyril Chamberlain. It must be somewhere! Who's hiding it? Everyone wants to see it

To other - Merton Park Films . . To TV Crime Menu

THE DRAYTON CASE (1953- release date March 23rd.)

Written and directed by Ken Hughes.
Starring John Le Mesurier as Supt Henley, with an assistant played by Vincent Ball.

"Have you ever murdered anyone?" asks a playful Edgar as he highlights that age-old problem, what do you do with the body? Christmas Eve 1941, during the blitz was a pretty useful time to dispose of a corpse.
In the cellar of a bombed schoolhouse in 1944, a skeleton is uncovered. "The murderer always overlooks something," declares Edgar, stating the obvious. A pathologist spots that this corpse has a fractured larynx, so can't have been a victim of Hitler's bombers. Supt Henley is given more details on this 40 to 45 year old woman, height about 5 feet, hair colour brown going gray. Her dental records show that she wore a plate with some seven false teeth. "Is that all?" Henley asks hopefully.
The first task is to identify the woman. At the Missing Persons Registry one candidate matches the description- Elizabeth Drayton of Islington, missing for two and a half years. Her surly husband Charles (Victor Platt) is eventually traced, but he "don't care" about his wife no more. But it's surely not a coincidence he stopped paying her maintenance around the time of her likely death. He does look guilty, though Henley throws a note of caution- "my wife's always nagging me about money, but I haven't murdered her!"
The caretaker of the old school remembers a fire in the cellar caused by arsonists on Christmas Eve 1941. Charlie Drayton was the firewatcher who tried to put it out before finally calling the fire brigade. Henley speculates on the probable scenario in a flashback. She had begged him for maintenance money, but her nagging had been the death of her. But facing arrest, Drayton flees. He's spotted at Charing Cross underground. With the platform crammed with refugees from the bombs, he's chased up an emergency exit and into the arms of Supt Henley.... no- he turns and tumbles down the steps. "better get an ambulance."

Edgar concludes with speculation on why Drayton killed his wife- "not a very intelligent man," he decides. This is a very basic story but some clever camera shots help turn this into a quite classy little film.