The Painted Smile (1962)

• 58%
• 1962
• Thriller
• Lance Comfort
• Liz Fraser
• Kenneth Griffith
• Peter Reynolds

Jo Lake and Mark Davies, working the "outraged husband" racket, fall foul of the sinister Kleinie. Jo, all for quitting, is persuaded by Mark to find one more victim before they leave and quit. She goes to the club where she operates and persuades a very-drunk young student, Tom, who has just won a hundred pounds, to go back to her flat. Mark, hiding there, hears footsteps mounting the stairs, but instead of Jo, the ugly, crippled Kleinie appears and coldly and callousy stabs Mark, leaving the body in Jo's bedroom. When she arrives with Tom, Kleinie phones and tells her to look in her bedroom. Jo tells Tom that the police will blame him and she persuades him to get his car and dispose of the body. Still somewhat drunk, his erratic driving causes him to be stopped by the police. Tom escapes. His friends, Glynn and Roy call on his fiancée, Mary, after reading in the paper about the body found in his car and that the police are after him. Tom arrives and his two friends set out to find Jo. Jo has left her apartment but Lucy, a hostess at the club, tells them to try King's Crss Station. The club barman tips Kleinie off. Tom joins them and they find Jo at the station but the police arrive. Escaping to the street, they are bundled into a car and are now Kleinie's prisoners.