Death Goes to School

1953 "A Killer Strikes in a World of Women"
5.9| 1h4m| en| More Info
Released: 01 May 1953 Released
Producted By: Independent Artists
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Detective Inspector Campbell (Gordon Jackson) looks into the murder of a teacher at a girls school where there are a number of suspects, including her colleagues and the married man she had been seeing.

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Reviews

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Stephen Abell Apart from the '50's sexism, which for the most part is now comical, this isn't too bad a murder mystery.When the body of one of the teachers is discovered dead on the Girlschool's grounds the police are called in. Enter DI Campbell (Jackson) and Sergeant Harvey (Kydd) to solve the crime. However, they are initially worried about solving the case as, "who can figure out the reasons in a woman's mind?"... problems we still suffer from today. They needn't have worried though as Miss Shepherd (Murray) is on the case too. Being a teacher at the school and a lover of mystery novels she takes it upon herself to investigate.One of the good things about this story is that unlike many sleuths, Miss Marple and Father Brown as examples, the police actually utilise Miss Shepherd. It's nice that the "outside" investigator isn't a thorn in the polices side but a help.Gordon Jackson is in his element as a hard-nosed don't hold back copper. You can see elements of his character in The Professionals, George Cowley, coming through in his portrayal of DI Campbell. So this remembrance, for me, helped to submerge me into the film, right from his appearance.This is a well scripted and written story. There are plenty of suspects to be the murderer... in fact, most of the staff at the school could be guilty of the crime. The way the story unfolds is nicely done, though the narration from Miss Shepherd is a little irksome. However, I've never been a fan of the narration - unless it's "The Twilight Zone" style. I think narration should be shown by the camera and not heard. If somebody says, "They were shocked to..." then show them shocked. They're actors, the director should use their skills.That said though, I would recommend this to all whodunnit buffs and murder mystery lovers. It's a short film, at just over an hour in runtime, so would be good for a quick fix. A good afternoon flick for the armchair detectives out there.
Prismark10 Death Goes to School is a low budget B film but with several familiar faces that would become well known later on television dramas.The body of Miss Cooper is found behind the school playing fields. The police reckon everybody is a suspect as everyone disliked her, one teacher stated that she was no good to the children.It is one of the teachers, Miss Shepherd (Barbara Murray) who does the proper detective work and figures out who the killer might be before Detective Inspector Campbell (Gordon Jackson.) Character actor Sam Kydd provides solid support to Jackson.There is a bit of humour, plenty of chauvinistic attitudes and the whole thing is a little flat.
Leofwine_draca DEATH GOES TO SCHOOL is a low rent British murder mystery that provides a neat counterpoint to the more popular hilarity of the ST. TRINIANS movies, which were just taking off during the decade. The production company was the little-known Independent Artists, who knocked out a few quota quickies before moving into TV production in the 1960s. The excellent NIGHT OF THE EAGLE is undoubtedly their best (and well-known) production.This story is a typical murder mystery with a couple of sleuths in an all-girl school, hot on the trail of a murderer who took down the headmistress by strangulation with a scarf. All they have is a footprint to go on, but they soon uncover a hotbed of hatred and false identity, and they must piece together the clues to discover the one responsible.The film features a leading role for a youthful Gordon Jackson as the no-nonsense detective and the ubiquitous Sam Kydd (who's uncredited for some reason) as his right hand man. The characterisation is slim, and the denouement is rather unremarkable, but the plot remains focused throughout. The all-girl school setting is a good one that Hammer would later use in the likes of LUST FOR A VAMPIRE in the 1970s. This film was shot at the attractive Merton Park Studios in Wimbledon, later the setting for the obscure Michael Gough horror, THE CORPSE.
junk-monkey Synopsis: An unpopular teacher at an all girls school is found strangled behind the sports pavilion with another teacher's scarf around her throat. An inspector from Scotland Yard and his sergeant arrive to investigate. One of the teachers provides him with the clues that lead to the murderer (another member of staff) but when presented with the evidence that will lead to her discovery the murderer takes an overdose of sleeping tablets and dies.Nicely photographed but talky and dull and, apart from a few MOS exteriors (arriving and departing shots), stays firmly in the same few sets. This film was made in the days when everyone in British movies talked with perfect diction and faultless grammar - indeed in this film characters actually correct each other's grammar. Not a long vowel sound to be heard. Everyone is so po-faced and brittle it hurts. The actors do their thing in the solid, constipated, stiff upper lip, style required at the time.The plot is thin, the characters have no emotional depth but above all it is marred by a weird narrative structure. Parts of the story are voiced over by one of the teachers as she does her own investigation but most of the time the camera follows the Scotland Yard men - it doesn't work....and it beggars belief that a Scotland Yard inspector would arrive at a crime scene, enquire whether anything has been disturbed, then light a cigarette and drop the match on the floor.