Murder by Proxy (a.k.a. Blackout) is a 1954 British Film Noir crime drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Dane Clark, Belinda Lee and Betty Ann Davies.
In London, the down-and-out Casey Morrow finds himself at a crossroads when a captivating heiress named Phyllis Brunner approaches him with a tempting proposition: a substantial sum in exchange for marrying her. Yielding to the offer, Casey's world takes a dark turn as he awakens the next day in a stranger's apartment, his coat stained with the blood of Brunner's slain father. Now entangled in a web of intrigue, Casey must navigate a convoluted path to uncover the truth and clear his name. Along the way, he encounters a motley crew of dubious characters whose revelations only seem to deepen the complexities of his predicament.
Murder by Proxy contains examples of:
- Better Manhandle the Murder Weapon: According to Phyllis, when they arrived at her father's flat, the drunk Casey tripped over the poker that had been used to murder him in the dark and then picked it up; getting blood on his coat and his fingerprints on the murder weapon.
- Blackmail Backfire: On learning of Darius Brunner's murder, Groot—the private detective he had hired—realises who the murderer must be, and attempts to blackmail them. At the end of the film, Inspector Johnson says that Groot's body had been pulled out of the Thames.
- Brits Love Tea: Maggie sends the American Casey out of the room while she removes Phyllis' wet clothing. Casey is completely befuddled by every aspect of the process as Maggie tries to talk him through it the door. She eventually tells him to just leave it and she'll do it.
- Car Fu: Someone attempts to run Casey down as he is returning to the flat he rented with Phyllis. Phyllis, who was waiting in the hall for him, sees the car and is able to shout a warning; enabling him to dive out of the way.
- The Corpse Stops Here: Gordon attempts to murder Casey. Casey throws his gun at Gordon's head and then ducks behind a door. He hears a shot and when he sticks his head around the door, he sees Gordon lying dead on the stairs. He goes to check the body and his landlady, who had heard the shots, sees him leaning over the body and assumes he is the killer and starts screaming bloody murder.
- Femme Fatale: The glamorous heiress Phyllis Brunner approaches the down-and-out Casey Morrow in the bar of his hotel and inveigles herself into conversation with him before offing him £500 for a simple job: marrying her.
- Frame-Up: The murderer intends for Casey to take the fall for the murders of Darius, Lance and Phyllis.
- The Ghost: Phyllis' father, industrialist Darius Brunner, and his Private Investigator Carson B. Groot both have a major influence on the events of the film, but neither actually appears on screen.
- Hey, Wait!: Casey checks out of his hotel and tries to leave before the police investigating Phyllis' disappearance notice he matches the description of the man they are looking for. As he sneaks away towards the door, one of the bellhops sees him and calls out to him. He thinks he's been caught, but the bellhop only wanted to tell him he had forgotten his bag.
- Improvised Weapon: Casey slugs Lance Gordon with the handset of a telephone and knocks him out.
- It Works Better with Bullets: Gordon ambushes Casey and pulls the trigger on his gun several times only for nothing to happen. It turned out his partner in crime had given him an empty gun; hoping that Casey would kill him.
- Market-Based Title: Released in the U.S. as Blackout.
- Marriage of Convenience: Phyllis Brunner picks up Casey Morrow in a bar and offers him £500 to marry her, so she will have a legal reason not to marry her fiance whhile keeping control of her fortune.
- Offing the Offspring: Alicia Brunner attempts to manipulate Casey into killing her daughter Phyllis; planning to then either hand him over to the police or shoot him 'self-defence'.
- Percussive Prevention: Casey knocks out Phyllis (without warning her) to make it look like he has murdered her, so the killer will assume she is already dead and target him instead.
- Plot-Triggering Death: The murder of Phyllis' father—the industrialist Darius Brunner—and Casey waking with Darius' blood on his coat and no memory of how it got there is what kicks off the plot.
- Posthumous Character: Phyllis' father, industrialist Darius Brunner, and his Private Investigator Carson B. Groot both have a major influence on the events of the film, but are murdered without ever appearing on screen.
- Pretty in Mink: Phyllis is wearing a mink coat when she picks up Casey in the bar. It is one of the first things Casey comments on. Later, when Maggie undresses the soaking wet Phyllis, she comments it is a good thing that "mink doesn't shrink".
- This Is My Name on Foreign: Casey's birth name was Casimir Morokowski. He changed it to the more 'American' sounding 'Casey Morrow'.
- Undressing the Unconscious: After the soaking wet Phyllis passes out in Casey arms, Maggie gets him to lay her down on the couch and then sends in out of the room to make some tea while she takes of Phyllis's wet clothes.
- Waking Up Elsewhere: After Phyllis Brunner picks up the very drunk Casey in the bar of his hotel, the next thing he knows he is waking up the next day in a stranger's apartment, his coat stained with the blood of Brunner's slain father.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: The morning after Phyllis proposes to him, Casey wakes up in strange woman's flat with blood on his coat and no memory of what happened or how he got there.
