Herbert Lom plays twins in this movie. Also acrobats. Also a murderer.
Hired by Ronald Frankau to perform their two-act at Blackpool, the twin-acrobat act is a sensation. When publicist Terence de Marney discovers they have won the grand prize of a million francs in the French national lottery, he sets his girlfriend, Phyllis Dixey, to make up to one of the twins and steals the lottery ticket. When they discover this, they track him down and one of them murders the thief, while the other is performing solo, providing an alibi for the other. But which is it?
It's a gimmick mystery, with a strong noir element: sleazy setting, sleazy characters and some clever camera, provided by split-screen camerawork, and enough character differentiation to offer some good acting. The acrobatic work is offered in long shots, so that the Cromwell Brothers could do the work. This was their only movie appearance.
Herbert Lom, best remembered now for his appearances as Commissioner Dreyfus in the Pink Panther franchise, was born in 1917 and christened Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru. He made his first movie in 1937 in Czechoslovakie. By 1942 he was in Great Britain, where he played Napoleon, villains in crime dramas, and his favorite role, in THE LADYKILLERS. He appeared in almost a hundred movies, and his last performance was in 2007 on TV's AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MARPLE series. He died a couple of weeks after his 95th birthday.
Hired by Ronald Frankau to perform their two-act at Blackpool, the twin-acrobat act is a sensation. When publicist Terence de Marney discovers they have won the grand prize of a million francs in the French national lottery, he sets his girlfriend, Phyllis Dixey, to make up to one of the twins and steals the lottery ticket. When they discover this, they track him down and one of them murders the thief, while the other is performing solo, providing an alibi for the other. But which is it?
It's a gimmick mystery, with a strong noir element: sleazy setting, sleazy characters and some clever camera, provided by split-screen camerawork, and enough character differentiation to offer some good acting. The acrobatic work is offered in long shots, so that the Cromwell Brothers could do the work. This was their only movie appearance.
Herbert Lom, best remembered now for his appearances as Commissioner Dreyfus in the Pink Panther franchise, was born in 1917 and christened Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru. He made his first movie in 1937 in Czechoslovakie. By 1942 he was in Great Britain, where he played Napoleon, villains in crime dramas, and his favorite role, in THE LADYKILLERS. He appeared in almost a hundred movies, and his last performance was in 2007 on TV's AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MARPLE series. He died a couple of weeks after his 95th birthday.