Drayton Case, The (A Scotland Yard supporting feature)

"Scotland Yard . . . . Nerve centre of London's Metropolitan Police. Headquarters of it's Department of Criminal Investigation. Scotland Yard . . . . a name that appears on almost every page of the annals of crime detection." A darkened view, facing west along Derby Gate in SW1.

A clear daytime shot looking west. SJ

"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. Here are stories of human weakness, of greed and envy, of cunning and stupidity." The shot moves to find the illuminated windows of Scotland Yard facing Victoria Embankment SW1.

Work is ongoing here. SJ

"Here is the case history of one of the most celebrated murders of recent times." In London, Fire Fighters struggle to put out blazes caused by enemy bombing in 1941 and a sequence of stock footage from World War II illustrates the destruction. This and the following capture featuring Pennington Street in London E1 are taken from 'Fires Were Started'.

At that time, there were numbers of bodies were being found . . . victims of enemy bombs. Again, Pennington Street in E1 recognised by Richard Lovejoy.

Hoses are aimed high to extinguish fires across London. The footage is borrowed from 'London Can Take It' and here can be seen Portland Street W1 viewed from Great Titchfield Street.

"And so, when the bombers departed and the sirens moaned the "All Clear", somewhere in London was a man who walked the streets feeling reasonably safe." Again, stock footage. This time looking south along King William Street in EC4 and the approach to London Bridge beyond the crossroads formed by Monument Street and Arthur Street. More footage taken from 'London Can Take It'.

"Safe, because somewhere beneath one of the mounds of rubble lay the body of a woman. A woman he had murdered. It'll be months before they find her, he thought." Despite the film being set in London these bomb ruins are part of the Francis Hotel, Queens Square, Bath in Somerset, since rebuilt. The spire far right is that of the 'Blue Coat School', Bluecoat House, Upper Borough Walls/Saw Close. (RL)

"And he was right, it was over two years before the body of a Woman was discovered in the cellar of a bombed out school house in Islington." A Workman (Richard Shaw) tells his Colleague to call the police.

Investigations continue as the Woman's details are circulated and house to house enquiries are made.

Detectives (Unknown and Vincent Ball) show a description of the Woman to a Salvation Army Officer. Dave W provides us with the location, indeed not far from the Studios, the Salvation Army Citadel, 109 Kingston Road, SW19. Whilst there have been structural changes many of them remain in a more simplistic style. (RL)

For weeks, clues to the Woman's identity are followed up by Officers of the Criminal Investigation Department. This location continues to confound Dave W despite him drawing on slight additional area information in adjacent frames. He shares these frames and comments via the link in the Header Section in the hope that it may help someone else to resolve the issue. (RL)

Records of missing persons are checked until one possibility of the woman's identity is found . . . Elizabeth Drayton.

Dissatisfied by Charles Drayton's explanation about his relationship with his wife, a Detective is posted to watch the building where he has a room. Reelstreets has its own detective in Dave W, who gathered the evidence and concluded that it all pointed to the the fact that we are looking at 37 Hartland Road NW1, as viewed in the film from 51 Hawley Road. The area has been seen before and since in 'Flame in the Streets', 'The Tall Guy', 'It Always Rains On Sunday' and 'The Great Van Robbery'. (RL)

Neil Kenny found new block paving being laid at the location, but with the assistance from the contractor he managed to stand as close as the plastic fencing would allow in the correct position.

The Detective settles down with a newspaper. 'Detective Inspector' Dave W goes on to provide the judge and jury the fact that this shows the front door of 33 Hartland Road, the railing design and upper floor balcony ironwork still giving a match today. (RL)

With the ironwork masked by branches, Neil Kenny provides this view of the background terrace.

At midnight during a black-out, Divisional Inspector Henley and his Assistant head to Charing Cross underground station where Charles Drayton is expecting to take shelter. A darkened view of the Houses of Parliament Clock Tower in SW1.

A lighter look at the familiar scene. SJ