Four Sided Triangle

I would never have bought this early Hammer film but as it was included as a special feature on "The Curse Of Frankenstein" Blu Ray I thought I would give it a watch. The sci fi elements to the plot made it bearable but I thought the main cast were rather bland and uninteresting. I really didn't care about the characters or the love triangle that soon gains a fourth side. For me Hammer really begins with "The Quatermass Experiment" so this film and the one I watched the other day ("Stolen Face") are nothing more than curios that I suppose act as a prologue to the iconic run of films that the studio was soon to produce. 3/10 - Bad.

Flawed but compelling semi-classic British 1950s sci-fi. Four-Sided Triangle (a clever title which perfectly conveys the story and themes - based on the novel of the same name) is known to aficionados, but has been largely and undeservedly forgotten by the larger cinephile culture. Like most British science fiction of that era it is idea and story driven rather than being driven by special effects. If the archetype of a scientist standing next to a tube into which a person steps sounds familiar, it's interesting to note that this movie predates The American film The Fly by three years. The flaws include missed opportunities (which I can't describe without giving away spoilers) and a pedestrian ending that takes no risks. Nonetheless, if you like British science fiction from that era Four-Sided Triangle is a must-see.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Terence Fisher; Produced by Michael Carreras and Alexander Paal, for Hammer Films, released in America by Astor Pictures. Screenplay by Fisher, Adapted by Paul Tabori from William Temple's novel; Photography by Reginald Wyer; Edited by Maurice Rootes; Music by Malcolm Arnold. Starring: Barbara Payton, Stephen Murray, John Van Eyssen, James Hayter, Percy Marmont and Kynaston Reeves.

A complicated British science fiction movie with a love story, concerning scientists who are also romantic rivals. In a nod to "Frankenstein", Murray attempted to electronically duplicate Miss Payton, and thus make everyone happy and satisfied with their chosen girl.

Early Hammer film before they hit upon the idea that horror was the way of the future. This one is a sci-fi effort about two young scientific geniuses who invent a duplicating machine; they both are in love with the same girl but she is in love with just one of them, so the other lovesick boffin asks her if he could make a duplicate of her. That'll save the day and make everybody happy, right? Wrong! This love triangle plus duplicate is the four sided triangle of the title. I suppose the sci-fi is more of a maguffin that allows the story to explore human emotional elements. Its not a bad effort really.

Hey, guys! Did you and your buddy ever chase after the same girl, and lose the girl to your buddy? Sure, we all have. How many of you went out and tried to find a girl *just* like the one you lost? Okay, most of us are still here. Now, how many of you actually went out and tried to reproduce the girl of your dreams? Nope, me neither.

Robin and Bill are buddy mad scientists who are both childhood friends with Lena. Robin & Bill develop a device which makes an exact duplicate of whatever you put into the machine. The amount of energy required to change energy to matter, let alone the ability to exactly order that energy into anything useful, is beyond comprehension or reason. However, it does pose an interesting thought experiment about the nature of identity and what makes one unique in God's universe.

Helen is tortured because she realizes not only does she not have her own identity, but that the man she loves is loved by her "twin". Her world-view is the same as Lena's was before she married Robin. Helen is depressed to the point of suicide realizing that she can never be anything but a shadow of Lena. Bill is miserable because he has lost the girl of his dreams twice to the same man. His cowardace in love contrasts sharply to the point of curiousity with his impetuous, heart-on-his sleeve emotions in other aspects of his life.

The ending gets a demerit because of the need to dress them exactly for the first time in order to build a dramatic conclusion for the audience. Considering that the barn fire claims either Lena or Helen, a more dramatic ending would have had the survivor wrapped in a blanket, and the eventual hospital scene played out there. The emotion of the discovery of the survivor against the burning fire would dovetail nicely. However, this is nitpicking in an otherwise great movie.

Sterno says pull Euclid out of geometry class to watch Four Sided Triangle.