The Impersonator (1961)

Compact murder thriller featuring the then topical problem of US servicemen being based in English small towns during peacetime. When a creepy man who bothers women in the park escalates to murder, USAF sergeant Crawford is the main suspect, as he had taken her to a dance and accompanied her on the bus home. His only ally is simpering teacher Griffiths. The case leads to the local theatre and the annual pantomime of “Mother Goose”. As it is Christmas time, the school and homes are garlanded with decorations, as an interesting detail. Salew makes for a menacing stalker and Crawford is a friendly figure, showing that the unwanted visitors are not all threatening. The fears of the suspicious gossips of the town are unfounded. They should be more worried about touring actors!

A rather quickly-paced, at times funny, murder mystery about an American flyer (John Crawford) who becomes embroiled in an investigation after a women is murdered in a sleepy British village. Jane Griffiths is a local school mistress whom he had befriended, and together they try to find the true culprit who might just have been seen by a young boy (John Dare) obsessed with "Mother Goose". This is quite an interesting observation on suburban British life at the time - the local prejudices against the "marauding" American airmen; popularity of provincial theatre and the delight young children took from a simple pantomime.