The Frightened Man

This rather cheap and cheerful effort actually has quite a decent, complex, plot and Dermot Walsh ("Julius") and on-screen father Charles Victor ("Rosselli") work well together to create just a little more suspense than usual in this British crime drama. The latter runs an antique shop and, occasionally, fences some stolen goods to help fund his son through Oxford University. The pretty ungrateful son manages to get himself sent down, returns home and basically cleans the old man out - whilst, simultaneously - falling for the lodger "Amanda" (Barbara Murray) with whom he runs off only to fall in with some more substantial crooks who are planning a daring diamond heist. When it all starts to go wrong, and the cops begin to close in, poor old Dad tries to help out his ingrate of a son but is it all just too late? It doesn't hang about, the narrative is well paced and the romance kept to a minimum which really helps this to stay on track. Thora Hird and John Horsley crop up now and again to add a bit of cornflour to the gravy, making for quite a watchable hour, or so.

I just feel the need to begin by noting that the promotional poster/art for this film is very misleading and should be disregarded. Now, onto the film itself: I was anticipating something good but my expectations were greatly exceeded. The story itself is very solid and the script fully supports it through to its final conclusion. The entire cast does a fine job with Victor, Walsh, and Murray all delivering exceptional performances. Gilling does well in directing this thoroughly engaging and interesting film from beginning to end. Its is very British in all of the best ways and I can hardly think of a recent film that so thoroughly delivered such entertainment in such a short run time. The Frightened Man is definitely one to check out.

I saw this on the television last night. It is a good 1950's B-movie thriller. Whilst the plot is a bit hackneyed in places, it is well acted and well directed. If you like this sort of film it is well worth a viewing. If you are not a fan of this sort of film, but want to kill 69 minutes, it should do the job.

THE FRIGHTENED MAN is another low budget British crime film written and directed by the ever-present John Gilling. Once again Gilling was working for the Berman and Baker team at Tempean Films and and once again he has managed to craft a well-told and engaging tale from very little resources.

The film features the ubiquitous Dermot Walsh (complete with his trademark white hair streak) as an anti-hero who's something of a scoundrel; he begins the film by quitting his studies at Oxford and returning to his father, begging charity. His father wants him to come and work at his antiques shop but Walsh is more interested in romancing the lodger and getting involved with some ne'er-do-well characters.

Eventually the main thrust of the film becomes your typical heist thriller, with plenty of tension utilised to keep the viewer occupied right until the fitting climax. Walsh does well as a truly detestable character but THE FRIGHTENED MAN is of particular note thanks to the efforts of the supporting cast. Charles Victor is excellent as the doting father who'll do anything to see his son succeed while Barbara Murray is never irritating as the woman drawn into his wiles. Michael Ward, Thora Hird, John Horsley, Ballard Berkeley, and Martin Benson all put in solid turns too. There's little to dislike about this well-plotted film.

A bit of a misleading title given that there is really nothing frightening going on here at all. Obnoxious Dermot Walsh (Julius) is expelled from university. It doesn't matter that we don't know the specifics but it is quite clearly deserved. He is horrible. His dad Charles Victor (Rosselli) offers him a partnership in the family-run antiques business but Walsh refuses it, especially given that homosexual Michael Ward (Cornelius) works there and smells so fragrant. Walsh is not having anything to do with him. We follow Walsh's story as he steals someone's girlfriend and gets in with a bad crowd. Does he make the correct decision...?

Unfortunately, the film never gets going. We are given nobody to root for and the female roles are totally insignificant other than to stress to us that the men are bad. Annette Simmonds (Marcella) should have been given a bigger role. We get an opportunity for both women to shine when they rumble certain situations but nothing is developed for them down this route. This is something the film really needed as ultimately, there is no tension and the film just wraps up. The end.