Nigel Morland wrote more than 20 novels featuring Mrs Pym, but this is the only time the female detective appeared on screen. The relationship between her and her minion, Det.-Insp. Shott, may have influenced Margaret Rutherford when she insisted that her husband, Stringer Davis, join her in the Miss Marple films. Mrs Pym and Shott investigate the cases of two women who have died shortly after making bequests to a spiritualist group. The scenes shot at their meetings are unusually creepy for a British film of this period. Considering Morland was an experienced writer of detective fiction, the plot here is barmy. Mrs Pym uncovers clues that in reality would be impossible to detect and eventually deduces murder by vacuum cleaner, surely unique in literary and film history. But considering this was a quota quickie shot by an independent at the tiny Highbury Studios in North London (the single location is the street outside), the production values, performances and pace aren't bad. Incredible by today's standards is the attitude to women. The all-male police force believe that the department will collapse because a woman has been co-opted; and even Mrs Pym admits that the reason she's been assigned to the case is that only a woman could appear "goofy" enough to infiltrate a spiritualist society. Nevertheless there's an unusually prominent disclaimer in the main titles (see Crazy Credits) and it's possible that it was an afterthought because of the revival of interest in spiritualism during the War.
Mrs. Pym of Scotland Yard
(1940)
Crackpot murder mystery with creepy elements and astonishing sexism
22 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers