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Searching for a similar British TV movie

posted 15 years ago by El Bacho
3 replies | jump to latest

I've been trying for over a decade to find the title of a made for TV British movie that was partly a tribute to the kind of comedy used in "Kind Hearts..." or "The Ruling Class". It was a reversal of the principle used in "Kind Hearts...": a young noble is repeatedly unable to kill his different victims. It could be an episode in an anthology, anyway it was more comedy than crime.

It stars a young naive and clumsy Lord who has just inherited his title. He's got a bride who is interested in his money and has a lover on the side. The story takes place in the '20s or '30s and the TV movie was shot around the '70s or early '80s.

The Lord is the victim of a curse: either he becomes a murderer or he'll die violently. The bride convinces him that the curse is true and that he must kill somebody. She actually wants him jailed to get his money in some way.

So, the poor guy attempts several times to kill people and miserably fails every time (except that people die indirectly due to his attempts a few moments after he's gone).

He makes a final attempt by sabotaging the car brakes of an old relative in their country residence. The relative (an aunt?) leaves and he's relieved but, as he's an honest guy, he writes a complete confession. The bride takes the confession to bring it to the police, jumps in another car with her lover and can't stop laughing because she will get the money. But... the relative had taken the wrong car (or the guy had made a mistake) and the two lovers actually drive the sabotaged car with a few dangerous turns seconds away...

A final voice over tells us that the count, baron or whatever he is, actually became an assassin and got free of the curse.

So, if it reminds you of something or a precise title, it would be a huge relief. I've been looking for this movie I've caught on French TV for decades.

[–] Frumious_Bandersnatch_46 14 years ago

I've never encountered a movie as you describe. However, it does sound funny and intriguing. Please let me know if you ever find the title — and who's in it. I hope it's available in the US.

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"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things,"
Of atoms, stars and nebulæ, of entropy and genes.
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[–] CharlesTheBold 12 years ago

Part of the story ( he will die if he doesn't commit a crime) is Gilbert and Sullivan's musical RUDDIGORE. In the musical, the hero solves the problem by pointing out that failing to commit a crime would be suicide, which IS a crime.

[–] CharlesTheBold 8 years ago

The Lord is the victim of a curse: either he becomes a murderer or he'll die violently.
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That part of the story is from Gilbert and Sullivan's RUDDIGORE.

In RUDDIGORE the lord outsmarts the curse: if he doesn't commit murder, he'll die violently, but that would be suicide and a form of murder. So he can get away with doing nothing.