The Blue Parrot

The Blue Parrot is a low budget 1953 British "B" crime film directed by John Harlow and starring Dermot Walsh, Jacqueline Hill, Ballard Berkeley, Richard Pearson, and John Le Mesurier.[1] The film was produced by Stanley Haynes for Act Films Ltd.[2] The screenplay is by Alan MacKinnon from a story by British crime reporter Percy Hoskins.

Small-time crook Rocks Owen receives a mysterious phone call at the Blue Parrot Soho night club and is later found murdered. Bob Herrick, a New York detective in London to learn about Scotland Yard's methods, investigates, and policewoman Maureen Maguire goes undercover at the club posing as a hostess.

In a contemprary review Kine Weekly wrote: "Pleasantly intriguing, if modest, whodunnit. It illustrates the big part played by a young American detective in the apprehension of a Soho killer, and ends with a bang. The red herrings are neatly handled by the competent cast. The comedy relief is apt and the dénouement suspenseful. Feminine appeal slight yet piquant."[3]

The Radio Times said: "Dermot Walsh does his best with lacklustre material, and John Le Mesurier turns up in a supporting slot, but there's little else to recommend it."[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan wrote: ''Efficient thriller with a bit more sting in the action than usual.''[5]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film write: "There is little to distinguish this from numerous other urban-set thrillers, but its pacey editing (Robert Hill) and cast of reliable character players carries one over the less probable plot maneuvers."[6]