Trents letzter Fall

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I fail to understand why so many people have criticized it. I thought the entire peace of work was brilliant! Orson Welles gives a stirring and chilling performance as an insane cynical business man. I especially loved the fact that his presence remains quite strong through out the entirety of the film. The story reeks of the talent of Orson Welles. I am surprised that he did not direct the peace himself. We follow the story of a young new reporter looking for the story of a life time. He finds such a story within the home of a black widow, brilliantly played by Margret Lockwood. As i have stated many times, Margret Lockwood never ceases to amaze me with her subtle, but layered performances. She manages here to evoke a certain dismalness that cannot go unnoticed. She plays a rather mellow and unfeeling part. Frankly, her character is really not all that interesting. Margret plays her part well, but the part is very limited. The main focus is the character of Trent, a savvy and sly man who will stop it nothing to find the truth. This film is a classic murder mystery, produced in a citizen Kane manner. The flash back sequences are very well crafted, as well the plot and story structure. The other characters are also quite interesting. The character of Marlow is perhaps the victim of this tale and probably the most sympathetic of all characters. However,the ending is rather cliché and slightly destroys the tone of the film. I do recommend this film though on so many levels. If you want a good mystery story, as well as some good acting, then sit back and enjoy!

I failed to notice that Orson Welles was in this film (recently screened by Talking Pictures TV), and when he appeared I wondered why the actor was impersonating Welles under a load of truly horrible makeup. However, Orson's talent shines through, especially in the car scene.

Kenneth Williams appears briefly - finding the body, and giving evidence at the inquest - in a Welsh accent! He was of Welsh descent, but was a true Cockney: there's a plaque on his parent's home in Marchmont Street. A small touch heralds his future brilliance: as the camera pans over the impassive witnesses, he gives one twitch of the cheek.

Margaret Lockwood is beautiful and enigmatic, and her servants (butler Martin and secretary Marlow) are characterful and convincing. Her wardrobe is fabulous. This was the era of the "New Look", which so often translated as the new frumpy. It consciously looked back to the eighteen-forties and fifties. As Lockwood sits in a box at a concert she looks straight out of the 1850s. The pianist, Eileen Joyce, plays Mozart in a train that covers most of the stage.

Philip Trent's art is not too bad - I wonder who did the prop drawings?

MICHAEL WILDING is an armchair detective who sets out to determine whether or not the death of ORSON WELLES was suicide or murder. He thinks he's solved the case, only to learn that all is not what it appears (without giving the outcome away).

Unfortunately, the script is a dreary, talky and ponderous, making the film appear to be an amateurish stage play, although based on a novel. It's static. Nothing at all cinematic about the approach, nor is there any imagination in the directing.

Of all the players, MARGARET LOCKWOOD as the beautiful wife of the deceased man and JOHN McCALLUM as the man's secretary have key roles that they play with assurance. ORSON WELLES, with fake nose and bushy brows, might as well have been from another film. His ten or fifteen minutes of time on screen renders nothing but ham. Director Herbert Wilcox was evidently unable to tone him down and as a result his key scenes throw the film off stride. MICHAEL WILDING has a colorless role as the newspaper reporter who suspects foul play but can't prove anything.

With a talky script and lack of any cinematic touches, TRENT'S LAST CASE goes nowhere fast and leaves the viewer expecting a strong twist that never arrives--instead, a flat ending.

Production values are fine even though the film comes from the usually low-budget Republic studios.

Surprisingly for me, this is a remake of a movie based on a novel written in 1913 or whereabouts. Surprisingly, because the plot is nothing special, a sort of opposite-gender "Leave her to Heaven", but a lot more lackluster.

Michael Wilding is the titular Trent, a bland and moderately charming artist-journalist (?) investigating the bizarre suicide of unpleasant billionaire Sigsbee (???) Manderson. What with the weird name? Anyway, after a coroner's verdict of suicide, Trent is intrigued by allegations of Manderson's wife having an affair with her husband's dashing secretary.

Lockwood plays the wife and she's the only substantial and charming presence in the movie. There is a lot of talk and only by the third act we get to see Orson Welles with bushy eyebrows and prosthetic nose as Sigsbee and he's indeed a malevolent character but also very grotesque, due to the ridiculous disguise.

After long explanations from all the players the movie ends on a happy, albeit forced, note.

Due to Welles appearing so late and to take advantage of the popularity of an earlier film, in Italy this was titled "The Third Man Returns", even if it has nothing to do with that masterpiece.

Unlike the other reviewers above, I enjoyed this film immensely, probably because I am a Margaret Lockwood fan and collect as many of her films as I can when they are available.This one is not commercially available but I managed to find a dealer on Ebay who specialises in the older films I like.The other reviewers mention it is too "talky" but this is not supposed to be "Die Hard" or even a James Bond adventure.It is a cultured British film, from Republic films, from 1952 with an excellent cast who speak with wonderful diction and enunciation before "kitchen sink drama" mesmerised film producers.Herbert Wilcox (Anna Neagle's husband) produced this gripping thriller that keeps you guessing right up to the very end.I will concede that the plot is at times a bit like an amateur dramatic society but this gives it its intrinsic charm especially when the principal parts are played by good professional actors.An example is Orson Wells sitting in an armchair and filmed from the rear redolent of a James Bond villain.He only needed to be stroking a white cat on his lap!! Michael Wilding plays his usual debonair self as "Philip Trent" the artistic crime reporter.Margaret Lockwood plays again the pianoforte (see my critique of "Love Story" (1944) when she played Lissa Campbell),This time we have the pleasure of listening to Eileen Joyce (the real pianist) playing the famous Mozart piano concerto no:24 in C minor, larghetto movement.Eileen's other famous film credit was playing the Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto in C minor for "Brief Encounter (1945).Orson as mentioned was fond of Shakespeare's "Othello" and some of this plot is worked into this film.Like "The Third Man" (1949), Orson does not appear until late into the film but he immediately makes his not inconsiderable presence felt as "Sigsbee Manderson".Margaret plays Margaret Manderson his wife.No trouble remembering her name by the cast!John McCallum gives a workmanlike performance as John Marlowe, the secretary to Manderson and Miles Malleson for once leaves aside his clerical garb to play Burton Cupples, Margaret's uncle.What amused me was seeing a very young Kenneth Williams playing a garrulous Welsh gardener! You would only see this film if you you actively set out to acquire it since it never appears on the the TV and as I said is not commercially available.Obviously being a thriller I will not divulge the plot.Suffice to say it ends happily for all concerned.I rated it 8/10. Since I wrote this critique in July 2007 this title is now commercially available from www.silversirens.co.uk Enjoy!