Five Have A Mystery To Solve is a 6 part British film serial that was adapted from Enid Blyton's 20th Famous Five novel of the same name. Michael Barnes wrote the screenplay and Ernest Morris was the director. Ernest directed an episode of The Saint before this film and his only credit after was The Return Of Mr Moto. Sadly, it's not the best of the Mr Moto films. His directing career went from 1957 to 1965, then nothing.
The serial was produced by the Children's Film Foundation. The IMDb says it had a budget of £20,000. It was restored by the British Film Institute. They restored the film and it looks and sounds OK though there is a couple of places there are still some lines running though a scene. There's a nice booklet with an essay included. It's only available as a PAL DVD from the UK.
The Famous Five, George, Dick, Julian, Anne and Timmy are on hols from school. A nice lady that Julian, Anne and Dick know asks them to look after her house for a few days while she visits an sick relative. They agree and there they meet an orphan boy named Wilfred. He's an animal lover who can charm critters with his flute. He's not too good with people and he rubs the FF a bit the wrong way. He hears about some trouble with snaring animals on a local island that is the home of a rich eccentric who also runs an animal preserve. No one's allowed on the island but Wilfred heads right over and he takes Timmy with him.
The rest of the FF go after him and they all run into trouble. The old man is in a wheelchair and he has two helpers. They have been trapping the rabbits and selling them for the fur. There's also a legend of a secret treasure that you know will complicate things.
The kids and the baddies battle it out on the island and eventually there's a happy ending. I enjoyed the movie and was glad to have picked it up. I'll want to watch it again someday. Sadly there isn't a copy to see on YouTube.
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