Square Mile Murder, The (A Scotland Yard supporting feature)

“London....greatest City in the World”. An aerial view of London with Westminster Abbey dominating the capture, looking as though the shot was taken from Elizabeth Tower.

….”reputation for honesty and integrity”. A further shot perhaps from Elizabeth Tower of the South Bank showing the site of The Festival of Britain, The Royal Festival Hall with County Hall bottom right.

….”safeguarded by their police force”. The view looking north not perhaps by chance looking over Scotland Yard towards the white building of the Ministry of Defence.

…..”their headquarters is as well known as London itself”. Scotland Yard, Victoria Embankment, SW1.

“The City of London, for twelve out of every twenty four hours is practically deserted”. Threadneedle Street with Bartholomew Lane, EC2 off to the right. The Royal Exchange building left.

Roadworks at the bottom are keeping this road as quiet as yesteryear. SJ

“The center of the commercial and financial life of the nation”. Royal Exchange Buildings, EC2 to the left looking towards Cornhill.

Slightly off-angle as there are tables and chairs arranged behind my right shoulder. SJ

“tens of thousands work in the City”. Dave W is mildly cross with himself for ignoring the facts that have been presented to us all for so long. In the centre distance is the side (Holborn Viaduct) and rear (Giltspur Street) elevation of Holy Sepulchre, that led him to Old Bailey, EC4, from Ludgate Hill and the construction of Hillgate House. The right hand foreground shows 1 - 5 Old Bailey: Hope Brothers, Outfitters. Hillgate House was substantially damaged by an IRA car bomb on the 8th March 1973. (RL)

And so Dave was soon 'on his bike', no, not the one in the shot, to capture the same scene 63 years on. (RL)

“…sometimes the silence of the City is broken by a less easily identifiable sound”. Ludgate Hill, EC4 looking towards St. Paul’s Cathedral

Not quite as clear a view nowadays. SJ

“..a sound that no one overheard”. Circa what is now 39/45 Ludgate Hill.

The same address now. SJ

“Monday morning brought the City workers flooding back into the City”. London Bridge looking south.

King William Street, EC4 with Monument Street off to the right.

The clock appears to have risen a couple of storeys. SJ

“Within the hour the City police had asked for the assistance of Scotland Yard and Superintendent Hicks (John Welsh) and Det. Sgt. Riley (Stanley Morgan) found themselves investigating a most extraordinary case”. About to enter what is now 45 Ludgate Hill.

Not all that straightforward a match. SJ

The police are now anxious to speak to a Mr Possner (Carl Jaffe) who had had dinner with Mrs Miles (Mary Jones), subsequently found dead, widow of Alfie Miles who was found dead at the scene of the crime. They visit his offices. Redan Place, London W2 looking north. The rear of Whiteley’s Stores was used for Possner’s offices.

Slightly later in the day. SJ

Possner appears to be running a small but legitimate business, together with his wife Sylvia Possner (Delphi Lawrence) who lives close to Hyde Park. Hyde Park Square with the entrance to No 22 behind Mrs Possner background.

A clearer shot of no.22 without the taxi. SJ

With Alfie Miles now dead, a ‘good gelli’ man is hard to find. Supt. Hicks visits Wormwood Scrubs Prison, Du Cane Road, W12 (seen in many other films) to visit ‘Fingers’ McLeod (Harold Goodwin) who is shortly to be discharged.

The doors are open. SJ

Released from prison ‘Fingers’ secures a job as driver for Possner. Redan Place, London W2 looking south.

Also seen in Two Left Feet and Bellman & True. SJ

After a while Possner picks up on ‘Fingers’ abilities and arranges another safe ‘job’. However, 'Fingers' is overhead passing on the information to Supt. Hicks. From a rooftop vantage point the Police……. Looking north over Covent Garden Market, the tower of United Grand Lodge of England, Great Queen Street, WC2 center mid-ground.

…….with a panning shot …... Covent Garden market foreground with No 1-7 The Piazza, WC2 to the left.

…….keep watch. 34 Henrietta Street, WC2

I was always going to be limited to what could be achieved from ground level and any safe cracker would be disappointed to find that the bank is now closed for business.

A police ‘Q’ car spots Possner with ‘Fingers’ and others being collected from his flat….. Dave W finds him living at 20 Hyde Park Square, W2

No number evident, but the boot scrapers in the columns are. SJ

…..to be driven away. Hyde Park Square with, as Dave points out, 5 Hyde Park Street visible at the end and 6 and 7 demolished to reveal the rear elevations of Southwick Street at a diagonal. Hyde Park Square is similarly seen in ‘The Spaniards Curse’ (1958) with 6 and 7 still in situ.

Looking east. SJ

They make their way away followed by the police ‘Q’ car.……. A prompt from Peter Bywaters and a stroke of luck provided me with the location, Kingston Road, here looking at the mouth of Montague Road. Some subsequent redevelopment and the loss of the traffic bollards to the extreme left.

Peter Bywaters kindly went out to cover some of the locations seen in this film for us, starting with Kingston Road and the junction of Montague Road as it is now.

…….and on to Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 towards Latimer Road.

John Harwood went to Broadway. Looks like some rebuilding but there's a match to the right. (SJ)

The two cars follow a bend in the road. Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 looking towards Latimer Road.

John H. again. (SJ)

To continue down Merton Road, SW19

Quite how Peter managed to enjoy such a deserted road remains a mystery but it did give him time to establish that just under the rear view mirror of the car in the capture is a white gable fascia over a sash-window that still exists today. Further, the shop is on the corner of Ridley Road and Merton Road. Although not visible in the picture the white stone work has the date 1892 carved on it.

Concern grows when it is found that they are heading south towards the River and not the City. London Road, Morden looking south west towards Morden Station.

John took this one. (SJ)

Possner and his men pull up outside Woolworths on the films “Walworth Road between King and Charlotte Street” where ‘Fingers’ and Possner go inside. Circa 6 to 16 London Road, Morden, Surrey behind the camera is the junction with Morden Hall Road.

Such is progress, Peter found that Woolworth's has now been made into four shops.

The ‘Q’ car pulls up ‘behind’, except this is 7 and 8 Merton Park Parade, SW19 opposite the studios..

John snapped no7 & 8. (SJ)

Supt. Hicks instructs a patrol car to go to the scene when it is found that a bank backs on to Woolworths premises. Exiting The Rush into Kingston Road with Merton Hall Road just out of view to the right.

Peter Bywaters sends us this shot of the parade as it is after the passing of more than 60 years, long gone are all those advertising hoardings. (RL)

The patrol car makes its way to the location …….Kingston Road, SW19 with Wimbledon Chase Station out of shot to the right. Also seen in ‘The Rivals’ and ‘Hidden Homicide’.

John captured a leafier look. (SJ)

……….and pulls up at the ‘Western Bank’, where they find the doors closed. Circa 361 Kingston Road, SW19 now re-developed.

With re-development Peter naturally found it difficult to be exact with regard to the location, with the bank being replaced by a coffee shop and a Tesco Express. At least Tesco's ATM provides a service that the bank didn't have!

Meanwhile ‘Fingers’ and Possner leave the front of Woolworths with what appears to have been the result of a robbery.

No reference to be seen by Peter that Woolworth's ever traded on the site.

‘Fingers’ now sits in the car worried and Supt. Hicks expressing the view that he wouldn’t like to be in ‘Fingers’ shoes. Morden Road, SW19, the junction with Lombard Road is center screen, also seen in ‘The Key Man’.

The left hand side of the road is recognisable but the factories and business units on the right have changed. Peter found yet another empty road.....how does he do it?

Hicks and Riley race from ‘The Yard’, Victoria Embankment, SW1.

Possner and his ‘team’ make their escape with the ‘Q’ car close behind. Connaught Street, W2 with the Duke of Kendal public house on the corner with Kendal Street.

The Duke of Kendall on rather a tighter triangle. More acute than obtuse if I correctly remember my schoolboy Maths. SJ

Hicks and Riley meet up with the ‘Q’ car to raid Possner’s premises. Redan Place, London W2 looking east towards the shops in Queensway and apartment block Inver Court in the background.

Tris captured the view along Redan Place with Whiteley's department store at right being rebuilt . . . . again.