Murder in Reverse?

Tom Masterick, William Hartnell a stevedore in Limehouse, London, is married with a young daughter. He discovers his wife has been having an affair with a man named Fred Smith, John Slater. In a fit of rage, Masterick fights Smith in a saloon bar, and the fight spills out onto the streets, unleashing a high-stakes chase along a docks crane that ends with Smith’s apparent death. Although no body is recovered and Masterick swears he did not murder anyone, he is found guilty and sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to 15 years in prison, despite his insistence that he saw Smith alive after the incident.

When he is released, Masterick is obsessed with uncovering the truth about Smith’s fate and the miscarriage of justice that sidelined his life. He learns that his wife disappeared with Smith and that their daughter Jill Masterick, Dinah Sheridan, was adopted by Masterick’s close friend and newspaper editor Sullivan, Brefni O’Rorke, who had fought to sway public opinion in Masterick’s favor during his imprisonment. Sullivan fears that revealing the truth could hurt Jill, who has no memory of her real parents.

Jill, who is in a relationship with junior reporter Peter Rogers, Jimmy Hanley, believes Masterick is the victim of a miscarriage of justice, unaware that he is her biological father. As Masterick continues his private investigation, he tracks down his former wife, now living in poverty after fleeing Smith, and she reluctantly points him toward the man himself.

Masterick eventually locates Smith, who is running a public house. In a tense, duplicitous turn, Masterick convinces Smith that he is not seeking revenge, and the two strike a deal to share any compensation Masterick expects for his wrongful imprisonment. They confront Crossley, the prosecution barrister at Masterick’s trial, who has since become a judge at a dinner party; Crossley, Kynaston Reeves, remains wary and unmoved, citing the passage of time and the legal barriers that stand in the way of reopening the case.

Undeterred, Masterick asserts that there has been a miscarriage of justice and that the real victim stands beside him. Yet the judge remains unwilling to help, and the moment crescendos into a dramatic act: Masterick fatally shoots Smith in front of the judge and his guests, delivering a chilling form of personal justice.

In the aftermath, Sullivan, Brefni O’Rorke, remarks that Masterick cannot be convicted of murder since he already spent years in prison for the crime, rendering the killing, in effect, a “murder in reverse.” The tale unfolds as a grim meditation on guilt, memory, and the limits—and costs—of seeking justice through vengeance.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 12:41