Smokescreen – 1964 | 70 mins | Thriller, Crime | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Engaging Butcher’s second-feature written and directed by Jim O’Connolly. The plot is a mildly diverting story of insurance fraud shot on location in Brighton; with a running-gag concerning Peter Vaughan’s expense account.

Tight-fisted insurance investigator Roper (Peter Vaughan) travels to Brighton to investigate a claim related to a blazing car that was driven off the cliffs at Beachy Head. The accident was seen by onlookers but because no body was recovered from the scene, the Australian Life insurance company suspects it could be fraud.

In Brighton, Roper conducts himself like a dogged bloodhound and pieces together information from the scene, the police, and acquaintances of the supposedly dead man. Meanwhile, in a brief pause from the investigation, we get an insight into Roper’s private life and the reasons for his fanatical thriftiness.