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SYNOPSIS | REVIEW | PRODUCTION NOTES | TRIVIA | PRESS | QUOTES | KIM NEWMAN ARCHIVE | MEDIA |
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Cover Girl Killer (1960) Country of Origin: UK PRODUCTION SCRIPT DIRECTION PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION MUSIC SOUND MAKE-UP AND COSTUMES DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION OTHER SOURCES LOCATIONS CAST PLOT SUMMARY
A young Canadian, John Mason, inherits a girly magazine, Wow, but finds himself caught up in the machinations of the eponymous killer who dons a wig and pebble glasses as a disguise. Inspector Brunner persuades Mason to let him use his magazine to lay a trap for the killer, putting showgirl June Rawson on the cover in the hope of attracting his attention. The tacky title promises much low rent sleaze and depravity but hopelessly fails to deliver the goods. Corbett is surprisingly good as the killer, but a typically British reserve holds it back from achieving its full potential. Bishop's script is full of priceless pretensions (Corbett slaughters showgirls "to give Man back his dignity, to free him from the prison of lustful images which foul his mind and his sanity") and packed to the rafters with red herrings and pointless diversions to pack a meager storyline to a barely adequate 61 minutes. Bishop succeeds only in taking a fuzzy snapshot of the sleazy underbelly of late 50s London, an underexposed study lacking in detail or contrast. AVAILABILITY UK CENSORSHIP HISTORY UK TIMELINE
1960 1998 1999 2000 2001 REFERENCES MAGAZINES Daily Cinema no.8264 (5 February 1960) p.5 The Dark Side
October/November 1994 pp.17-18 Flesh and Blood no.4 p.107 Kine Weekly no.2731 (4 Feb 1960) p.30 Monthly Film
Bulletin vol.27 no.314 (March 1960) p.36 BOOKS English Gothic (2nd Edition) by Jonathan Rigby p.81 KEYWORDS
serial killers, magazines, publishers, police, models
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