Picture above: Ian Hendry (yawning with umbrella!), Ronnie Fraser and Renee Glynne (Continuity/Script Supervisor) take a break from filming on location for Girl In The Headline (1963)

___________________________________________________

Girl in the Headlines (AKA The Model Girl Murder Case ) is a 1963 British detective film directed by Michael Truman and starring Ian Hendry, Ronald Fraser, Jeremy Brett and Jane Asher.

Ian and Ronnie were good friends on-and-off the screen, having first met and worked together at the beginning of their careers – in repertory at The Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch in 1955.

They were to work together again a year later, on another film – The Beauty Jungle (1964).

Fraser was a colourful character who also openly admitted to a fondness for alcohol. He explained away several drink-driving convictions as resulting from ‘a little revelry on the roads of our kingdom’. Roger Moore – when retelling the story behind the The Wild Geese (1978) in his autobiography – said that the paralytic Ronnie was ‘poured onto the plane’ before they departed for filming!

Other notable cast members include James Villiers – an English character actor and another close friend, Jane Asher and Jeremy Brett – probably best known for playing the famous, fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series from 1984 to 1994.

Girl In The Headlines is based on the novel ‘The Nose on my Face’ by actor/ writer Laurence Payne – perhaps best-known for playing the role of Sexton Blake.

Picture: Ian Hendry, Ronnie Fraser and Jeremy Brett – Girl In The Headline (1963)

Plot
Inspector Birkett and Sergeant Saunders are called in to investigate the murder of a glamorous model. It becomes apparent the girl had led a chequered life and that her acquaintances included drug dealers. Jordan Barker and Hammond Barker are reluctant to help but when the police finally make an arrest, another murder occurs in a seedy Soho Jazz café. But are the two murders connected?

Film Release Titles

UK: Girl in the Headlines
Austria: Scotland Yard: Alibi des Todes
Finland: Ilotytön arvoitus
France: L’étrange mort de Miss Gray
Greece: To mystiko tou gymnou modelou
Italy: Così bella così sola così morta
USA: The Model Murder Case
West Germany: Alibi des Todes

Film Trailer

Posters

Poster above: UK Version of The Girl In The Headlines Poster (1963)

Poster: US Version Of The Girl In The Headlines Poster released as ‘Model Murder Case‘ (1963)

Poster: French Version Of The Girl In The Headlines Poster released as ‘L’etrange Mort De Miss Gray’ (1963)

Poster: French Version Of The Girl In The Headlines Poster released as ‘L’etrange Mort De Miss Gray’ (1963)

Poster: French Version Of The Girl In The Headlines Poster released as ‘L’etrange Mort De Miss Gray’ (1963)

Poster: Italian Version Of The Girl In The Headlines Poster released as ‘Cosi Bella Cosi Sola Cosi Morta’ (1963)

Cast
Ian Hendry – Inspector Birkett
Ronald Fraser – Sergeant Saunders
Margaret Johnston – Mrs Gray
Natasha Parry – Perlita Barker
Jeremy Brett – Jordan Barker
Kieron Moore – Herter
Peter Arne – Hammond Barker
Jane Asher – Lindy Birkett
Rosalie Crutchley – Maude Klein
Robert Harris – William Lamotte
Duncan Macrae – Barney
Zena Walker – Mildred Birkett
James Villiers – David Dane
Alan White – Inspector Blackwell
Martin Boddey – Inspector
Marie Burke – Madame Lavalle
Patrick Holt – Walbrook
Douglas Muir – Fingerprint Expert

Best wishes

Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Website of Ian Hendry

Further Reading

A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:

Read:  ‘Send in the Clowns – The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry’ by Gabriel Hershman