Her Last Affaire

A body lies crumpled on the floor. Enter maid, carrying breakfast tray. Scream! Crash! Ah, but not when the maid is Googie Withers. Without batting an eye, she steps across the corpse and trawls the room for clues, only then discharging her scream 'n' crash obligation. An adaptation of Walter Ellis's play SOS, this sample of Powell juvenilia turns on such issues as Sir Jervis's reputation, Lady Avril's weak heart, the secretary's secret. That the hero (Williams) is so dislikeable can be attributed to writing and casting, but Powell can be credited with encouraging what amounts to a comedic putsch by the supporting cast: John Laurie, a-quiver with Calvinist rectitude, Cecil Parker being, as ever, put upon. And of course the redoubtable Googie.