Jigsaw (1962 film)

Plot

A woman is murdered and partially dismembered in Saltdean, near Brighton. Two local detectives, following up a simple burglary of an estate agent's office, discover the body and take on the investigation of the murder. The victim is unidentified and the murder suspect is an unknown man who has used a false identity to rent the house in which the crime was committed. The detectives methodically develop and follow up leads to identify both, mostly in Brighton, but also further afield in Lewes and Greenwich. One lead appears to identify the victim, but their followup reveals that the name is of a woman not only still living, but who was almost a second victim as well. They track down and arrest the suspect described by several persons as the man who leased the house, but the case takes an unexpected turn when he makes his statement confirming what the witnesses saw. After the victim is positively identified, the veteran inspector leading the case develops a "wild idea" on the identity of the suspect, then orders a standard procedure that confirms his theory in a non-standard fashion. The murderer's contention that the death was accidental appears to be foolproof until the detectives realize he has tripped himself up in a single crucial detail.

Cast

Critical response

Britmovie wrote that Jigsaw is "a chilling murder mystery," adding, "at 107 minutes, the film is long but never tiresome"; while The Guardian described the film as "one of the finest postwar British crime movies and possibly the best depiction of the seaside town on film. Caught in its seedy corruption, Brighton emerges as a far cry from the bumbling world with which (Val) Guest had until then been associated."