Wherever Dan Duryea travels, film noir is sure to follow! Whether the good guy or the villain (or sometimes the red herring), his world weary face was a perfect example of the "noir look"-a bit sleazy, and someone you'd think twice about trusting. In this Lippert "B" film, he is the good guy, a war veteran whose British wife (Elsie Albiin) abandons him while he's off in America on special assignment. He's back long enough to get caught up in her murder, coming to after confronting her, finding himself next to her dead body with a the murder weapon in his hand. Knowing he is being framed, Duryea runs out just as the police get there, and utilizes the aid of a rather gullible neighbor (Gudrun Ure) both to hide him and help clear his name. You'll instantly know who the killer is, but this is not a mystery. It is all about how he gets around while trying to find out what happened which leads him to find out information on his deceased wife that isn't so pretty.
This is a British made film noir that has many great things going for it, but it is also a bit too much to see the wife's dead body there (shot twice at almost point blank range) with no trace of blood. On the other hand, there are some interesting flashback sequences that let us know how Duryea and his wife met, shown through an obvious projector slide show, which is very interestingly photographed in itself. The cameraman moves much like an unseen bystander, few cuts in between, but filmed in a way that is never static. Also interesting is the character of the wife, both a gentle lady and a femme fatal, showing how many women during the war years found new ways to survive boredom while their spouses were away.
Duryea is never an actor you can take an emotional interest in (his hard looks spoil any vulnerability he might have hidden inside), but he is so good at what he does that all of his characters, regardless of what side of the law they are on, are always extremely interesting. You long to see if (and how) he will get out of this plight. As the innocent mission worker, Ure is too kind to be real. When Duryea asks her to forge his wife's signature to get into her safety deposit box, I said to myself, "Oh, come on." Even in the 1950's, an amateur could not get away with forgery. Typical British eccentrics (always amusing to Americans with their unique use of the language) come in and out of the story to give local flavor. While watching this, I realized how similar it was in many senses to 1946's classic "The Blue Dahlia" which has pretty much the same conflict but a more identifiable hero.
This is a British made film noir that has many great things going for it, but it is also a bit too much to see the wife's dead body there (shot twice at almost point blank range) with no trace of blood. On the other hand, there are some interesting flashback sequences that let us know how Duryea and his wife met, shown through an obvious projector slide show, which is very interestingly photographed in itself. The cameraman moves much like an unseen bystander, few cuts in between, but filmed in a way that is never static. Also interesting is the character of the wife, both a gentle lady and a femme fatal, showing how many women during the war years found new ways to survive boredom while their spouses were away.
Duryea is never an actor you can take an emotional interest in (his hard looks spoil any vulnerability he might have hidden inside), but he is so good at what he does that all of his characters, regardless of what side of the law they are on, are always extremely interesting. You long to see if (and how) he will get out of this plight. As the innocent mission worker, Ure is too kind to be real. When Duryea asks her to forge his wife's signature to get into her safety deposit box, I said to myself, "Oh, come on." Even in the 1950's, an amateur could not get away with forgery. Typical British eccentrics (always amusing to Americans with their unique use of the language) come in and out of the story to give local flavor. While watching this, I realized how similar it was in many senses to 1946's classic "The Blue Dahlia" which has pretty much the same conflict but a more identifiable hero.