Mystery Junction – 1951 | 65 mins | Thriller, Crime | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Novel fantasy thriller written and directed by Ealing graduate Michael McCarthy and shot at Merton Park studios. The plot is somewhat convoluted and the story lacks pace but the overall film is engaging for second feature fare. Distinctive Cockney actor Sydney Tafler is an engaging lead and unfortunately he rarely got the roles in British cinema that his talent deserved.

A crime novelist, Larry Gordon (Sydney Tafler), concocts a story featuring the other travellers on the train for the benefit of a fellow passenger Miss Owens (Christine Silver). A prisoner, Steve Harding (Martin Benson), travelling on the train between Pickering and Stanton for a court appearance with an armed police guard, Sgt Petterson, is suspected of being involved in a murder on the train. The policeman escorting him demands the passengers disembark at a lonely snowbound station so everybody can be interviewed whilst they wait for the police to arrive.

Outside an unknown conspirator cuts the phone line and sabotages the lights in the waiting room. In the dark two shots ring out and Sgt Clarke lies on the floor dead. Harding’s accomplices, Benson and Hooker, both deny they fired any shots. As the night unfolds it becomes apparent most of the passengers are associated in some way.