I love this movie so much

Fresh and Exciting

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It's Jack Warner, in yet another copper's outing. But Dixon has advanced to detective in his old age...I had never seen nor even heard of this movie until I stumbled upon it for free on YouTube. Apart from a short and slightly incongruous beginning in which the victim is seen alive shortly before her murder, the rest of the movie hammers away relentlessly. There's no blood and gore, we are left to infer things from the characters' expressions. A retiring detective (Warner) is given the task of solving the crime, and so begins a detailed and entirely believable fly-on-the-wall police procedural. Brighton has a gloomy 'Brighton Rock' feel to it as clues unfold and dead-ends are encountered. It's an excellent view of the early 1960's, with proper coppers, nice old period cars and social mannerisms. The plot is tight and convoluted and involves locations as far afield as Greenwich. Apart from the early digression, this movie is a most absorbing watch despite its vintage and sometimes slightly vignetted appearance. Everyone gives a believable turn and technical issues are all up to snuff. Better than many much later offerings. Get on YouTube and have look...

Solid, well-made police procedural, about the investigation into the murder of a young woman whose dismembered body is found in a suitcase. "Jigsaw" really is a procedural, meaning that it focuses on the procedures and methods used to discover culprits and bring them to justice. Many of these methods are mundane and boring beyond belief - but then, "they also serve who only stand and wait", even watching a certain house from behind a tactically located gardenia bush can help apprehend a criminal and save innocent lives... The movie's plot is logical, the clues and hints are handed out fairly and the solution is satisfying to the intellect. On the other hand the movie threatens to become somewhat dry : it would have benefitted from a bit more emotion or wit. Watching a movie like this always reminds me of the strange fact that there really, truly are human beings who can say sensible things about the height of a random stranger they saw crossing the street three weeks before. Quite often these are also the same people capable of pinpointing exact dates : "Yes, yes, I saw a blonde lady in a tan coat with a toddler on her arm, this was on January 12th, at eight o'clock". It impresses the hell out of me, since I work on entirely different principles : when it comes to the small details of everyday life, nature has given me a colander instead of a memory. Aaah, well, that's human difference for you...

Val Guest was a prolific screenwriter and director, and he knew his business. Among his many triumphs are "Oh Mr Porter!" with Will Hay and "Murder at the Windmill" of a murder at the legendary Windmill theatre that kept open throughout the war, with other witty and often ingenious comedies and thrillers, but here he is dealing with a real murder that occurred in reality. The inspectors understand nothing of it. The murderer has left no trace, the murdered woman is unknown and cannot be identified, all clues lead astray, and although the murderer is present in flashbacks you never see his face. It's meticulous arduous methodical police work all the way, very much like Jules Dassin's "Naked City" from New York 15 years earlier, like a criminal documentary, but it's expertly done. You can't lose interest for a moment, the dialogue is constantly sustained and pregnant, the investigation leads on, and ultimately you come closer to the target, who of course never could be suspected at all.The camerawork is impressive with its constant shifts by association, a jigsaw puzzle introducing the cryptic way ahead, one face shifting into another in flashbacks, one car shifting into another, and so forth. It's cinematic and dramaturgic eloquence all the way, and when the final piece of the puzzle suddenly is found there is nothing more to add although the story goes on - the picture is completed, and that's enough.

Despite the presence of Jack Warner as a senior policeman, the world of "Jigsaw" is a far cry from the cosy atmosphere of "Dixon of Dock Green". Effective camerawork makes Brighton a faintly sinister setting for this murder mystery. The standard of acting is generally high, (although I found Yolande Donlan's performance a little overwrought for my taste) and a strong script from Guest ensures that the detailed police investigation contains enough action (and unexpected revelations) to hold the viewer's interest to the very end.