The Broken Horseshoe (1953) starring Robert Beatty, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter Coke, Hugh Kelly, Janet Butler, Vida Hope, Ferdy Mayne, James Raglan directed by Martyn C. Webster Movie Review

The Broken Horseshoe (1953)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Elizabeth Sellars in The Broken Horseshoe (1953)

The Doctor's a Dope

When a man is involved in a hit and run it is Dr. Mark Fenton (Robert Beatty) who treats him but he is concerned about this mysterious man who appears to be a foreigner. When the man is later on murdered Fenton finds himself as the number one suspect. But Fenton has become close to the equally mysterious Della Freeman (Elizabeth Sellars) who unbeknown to Fenton is connected to a horse doping ring who are responsible for the murder. But Della feels for Fenton and sets about trying to help him clear his name.

"The Broken Horseshoe" has two things going on; a complicated plot and a lot of dialogue which whilst making it typical of the era makes it hard work when watched now. Now the complicated plot is at its heart not too difficult to understand but the writers have placed things into the storyline which end up complicating it for little purpose other than to distract the audience such as the use of a message written in invisible ink. And that is why it is dialogue heavy as it relies on extra dialogue to explain all these extra layers and make sense of it. It is the sort of movie which will appeal to those who have a deep love of film-noir rather than just the casual movie fan.

But "The Broken Horseshoe" has something else and whilst Robert Beatty is solid as Mark Fenton it is not him. Nope it is Elizabeth Sellars who brings life to the movie as the mysterious and attractive Della Freeman but the sad thing is that she is not in the movie enough for my liking. Aside from Beatty and Sellars the rest of he cast is solid but forgettable.

What this all boils down to is that "The Broken Horseshoe" is quite typical of its type and era which makes it a movie for those who have a deep interest in crime movies/ film-noir from the past rather than the casual movie fan who might find its wordiness slow going.


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