Zwischen Haß und Liebe

This movie is certainly one of the best victorian-era thriller melodramas ever made. The atmosphere is perfect (at least according to what we expect victorian atmosphere to be). Both Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons give wonderful performances, each being ideally cast in his/her role. The suspense builds up perfectly, answering the viewers question as to how the katharsis will come at the end. And it is a very satisfying solution - with the exception perhaps of the last words said by Jean Simmons. All in all an excellent movie that deserves much wider recognition than it actually enjoys.

A great cast makes this Victorian thriller a near-classic, hampered only by a low budget. Stewart Granger stars as a recent widower who is in fact a murderer. This fact is known only to one of his his servants (Jean Simmons), who uses this knowledge to improve her station. When the wily widower ends up in a romantic relationship with a woman of his own class, he decides to put an end to the servant. From this point, everything that can go wrong does, and the clever twist ending is a real hoot. A young Bill Travers plays a barrister in love with the woman the widower has his eyes (an lips) on. Since the movie is working with almost no budget, the action is played out on basically three sets, so that it feels a bit like a theatrical play. No harm done in the end, as it is well written and wonderfully acted. Simmons absolutely shines.

Footsteps in the Fog is directed by Arthur Lubin and collectively written and adapted by Lenore J. Coffee, Dorothy Davenport & Arthur Pierson. It is based on the short story, The Interruption, written by Gothic novelist W. W. Jacobs. It stars Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Bill Travers, Belinda Lee and Ronald Squire. Music is by Benjamin Frankel and Technicolor cinematography by Christopher Challis.

Stephen Lowry (Granger) is found by the house maid, Lily Watkins (Simmons), to have poisoned his wife. She promptly uses the information to blackmail Lowry. But with an attraction there they begin to have a relationship, however, motives and means are far from clear...

A darn cracker of an Edwardian thriller that's redolent with Gothic atmosphere and film noir tints, Footsteps in the Fog also features nifty story telling that's acted considerably well by the then husband and wife team of Granger & Simmons. The plot features murder, betrayal and dangerous love, with warped psychology the order of the day, all done up splendidly in Technicolor by Powell & Pressburger's favourite cinematographer, Challis. Characterisations are deliberately perverse, Lily knows Stephen is a murderer, but is not afraid of him, she loves him on the terms of love that only she understands. Stephen is a dastard, dangerously so, but he's not beyond remorse either, and shows it. Both homme and femme are connivers, a recipe for disaster. These facts mark this particular coupling out as one of the most skew whiff in 50s thrillers. And thankfully when the denouement comes, it's a kicker, a real throat grabber that perfectly crowns this deliciously crafty picture. Support comes from a number of established British thespians like William Hartnel, Finlay Currie and Ronald Squire, while the art department have come up trumps for the period design. All told it's a film deserving of a bigger audience and easily recommended to classic melodrama/thriller fans. 8/10

Fascinating British drama, notable for having two depraved, totally unlikeable protagonists--a murderer and the blackmailer who loves him. All the trimmings are here for perfect Late Late Show credentials: Gothic mansion, bickering servants, thick fog, the portrait over the fireplace, poison, blood stains, secret letters, a clueless blonde ingénue, a hooded figure in the dark...but filmed in lush Hammer-style color, rather than a more appropriate b/w, which gives the film a ghoulish modern edge. Stewart Granger and Gene Simmons get high marks for underplaying this vile pair...particularly Simmons, who nails her final scene. What a great, unsung actress.

Stewart Grainger plays Stephen Lowry, an initially sympathetic character. The audience's goodwill dissipates rapidly however, when he maltreats the family cat: some things a hero should never do. He is guilty of even worse, too, but that's not for this review. Suffice it to say that he meets his match and it's then that things become really interesting. Jean Simmons is Lily Watkins, another character who holds our sympathies - but should she? Such is the nature of this terrifically twisting plot that you never really know.

The intrigue takes on a darker turn and thus provides the thrust of the story. All this in a richly furnished, luxurious house that quickly becomes cold and unfriendly - a terrific setting for the bleak drama, all furnished with a host of well-known faces like Victor Maddern, Bill Travers, Peter Bull and the original Doctor Who, William Hartnell. My score is 8 out of 10.