Dial M for Murder

Dial M for Murder 1954

8.00

An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to have his wealthy wife murdered after discovering she is having an affair, and assumes she will soon leave him for the other man anyway.

1954

Swimming Pool

Swimming Pool 2003

6.50

A British crime novelist travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek solitude in order to work on her next book. However, the unexpected arrival of the publisher's daughter induces complications and a subsequent crime.

2003

Throw Momma from the Train

Throw Momma from the Train 1987

6.20

Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. When Owen watches a Hitchcock classic that seems to mirror his own life, he decides to put the movie's plot into action and offers to kill Larry's ex-wife, if Larry promises to murder his mom. Before Larry gets a chance to react to the plan, it seems that Owen has already set things in motion.

1987

Hammett

Hammett 1982

6.20

Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.

1982

The Pigeon Tunnel

The Pigeon Tunnel 2023

6.80

Academy Award winner Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of David Cornwell, the former spy known to the literary world as John le Carré.

2023

The Mad Magician

The Mad Magician 1954

6.90

Don Gallico is an inventor of stage magic effects who aspires to become a star in his own right. Just before his first performance his act is shut down by capricious manager Ross Ormond who wants Gallico's brilliant buzz saw effect for the act of The Great Rinaldi, an established star. With this defeat, and the humiliation of having already lost his wife Claire to Ormond, Gallico decides it is time to take matters into his own hands.

1954

Agatha

Agatha 1979

6.30

England, 1926. An American journalist looks for mystery writer Agatha Christie when she suddenly disappears without explanation, leaving no trace.

1979

Lady on a Train

Lady on a Train 1945

6.50

While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers.

1945

The Vanished Elephant

The Vanished Elephant 2014

5.70

A crime novelist receives a vital clue to the whereabouts of his long-missing fiancée.

2014

The Beast Must Die

The Beast Must Die 1952

6.60

A crime writer gets involved in a murder investigation.

1952

Dangerous Blondes

Dangerous Blondes 1943

6.00

Mystery writer Barry Craig (Allyn Joslyn) and his wife Jane (Evelyn Keyes), prefer solving crimes rather than writing about them. They get a chance when killings plague the fashion photography studio of Ralph McCormick (Edmund Lowe). After his secretary, Julie Taylor(Anita Louise) reports an attempt to murder her there, Erika McCormick's (Ann Savage) Aunt Isabel Fleming (Mary Forbes) is stabbed and the evidence points to Madge Lawrence (Bess Flowers) an older model and an apparent suicide. Police Inspector Joseph Clinton (Frank Craven) declares the case closed...but then Erika is murdered.

1943

Elmore Leonard:

Elmore Leonard: "But Don't Try to Write" 2021

4.50

Elmore Leonard, author of more than 40 novels, is renowned in the literary community. From his westerns and early novels of crime based in Detroit and South Florida, right through his complex and virtually plotless later work, Elmore Leonard dissected an America whose founding sins have continued to haunt it all the days. Leonard’s depiction of America is as real as Twain’s Hannibal, Faulkner’s Mississippi and Steinbeck’s Monterey. The new documentary ELMORE LEONARD: “But don’t try to write” explores the prolific author’s legacy and his influence on generations of writers. The documentary features exclusive images and previously unseen home movie footage, family photographs, and in-depth interviews with both literary experts and those who knew him well, including colleagues, family, and childhood friends.

2021

Profiling

Profiling 2008

1

Six of the best British crime thriller writers are profiled during the running up to the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards. Each author will be given their own week, featuring some of their finest TV adaptations every night, plus an exclusive documentary examining their lives and work, talking to the stars who have brought their characters to life on screen, fellow writers, fans and the authors themselves.

2008