JANE ASHER & IAN HENDRY RELATE WITH 'GIRL IN THE HEADLINES'

Jane Asher from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES Year: 1963 Rating: **1/2

Also known as THE MODEL MURDER CASE, this British Neo Noir has a perfectly cast Ian Hendry with Ronald Fraser as cop partners (Inspector and Sergeant) with such terrific chemistry it's a shame there weren't more films, or perhaps a television series where GIRL IN THE HEADLINES would be a merely passable episode... albeit filled with fantastic looking sets showcasing pallid wealth in a mystery thriller that needed not only more thrills but far more action...

A shame the titular model, shown all through the opening credits and even the first several minutes (seated dead in someone else's living room), isn't credited anywhere: Her character is quite something, making this a kind of LAURA where the corpse has a life all her own, albeit not through any flashbacks. The suspects/her friends though are very similar... 

Ian Hendry investigates GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

A group of big money lowlifes including a flamboyant TV star (James Villiers); a shady nightclub owner (Kieron Moore); a handsome sailor who could be trafficking drugs (Jeremy Brett); the girl's sullen mother (Margaret Johnston); and an even more sullen married couple while Ian Hendry, who'd wind down his career playing ruthless villains, looks square-jawed classy here, befitting the stalwart lead whether in plush interiors then cold exteriors with his quirky sidekick, or at home with pretty teenage daughter Jane Asher, whose mom (his wife) is more of a cool older sis... 

Again, the main characters seem part of something bigger, more expanded... it's too bad they're stuck in one single just-good-enough time-filling thriller because everyone... even the dead girl... deserved better: And in HER case, an actual name!

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Titular model from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ronald Fraser and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ronald Fraser and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ronald Fraser and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ronald Fraser and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES with James Villiers

GIRL IN THE HEADLINES with James Villiers

Ronald Fraser and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Jane Asher and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Margaret Johnston and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Jeremy Brett and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Jeremy Brett and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ronald Fraser and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Natasha Parry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Jane Asher in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Jane Asher in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES with Zena Walker and Ronald Fraser

Ian Hendry and Jeremy Brett in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ian Hendry and Ronald Fraser in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Peter Arne with Natasha Parry and Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Ian Hendry in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Kieron Moore in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Unnamed Title starlet from GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Jane Asher in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES

Jane Asher and Zena Walker in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES with Ian Hendry

Jane Asher many decades later and still hot on NEW TRICKS

Jane Asher and Zena Walker in GIRL IN THE HEADLINES