Blackout

I found BLACKOUT to be a routinely-plotted thriller with an interesting storyline. The only problem with it is that it's hampered by a relatively low budget which means there are few memorable set-pieces or exciting moments to distinguish it from other fare. It was put out by the Baker/Berman team at Tempean Films, with Baker himself directing from a script by John Gilling (who apparently never slept during this stage of his career).

The film boasts a great opening sequence which is the definite highlight. Maxwell Reed (THE CLOUDED YELLOW), suffering from temporary blindness, ends up at the wrong address and literally stumbles upon a recently-deceased corpse. You have no idea how this same scenario was used time and again in British B-films but that's because it's a good one. The murderers are still on the scene but, learning of his disability, decide to let him live. He's discovered the next day but of course the police don't believe his story and there's no trace of the murder.

Sadly the film shifts down a gear after this point. Reed regains his sight and becomes the ordinary amateur detective, trying to solve the murder and bring down the criminal gang. I would have preferred him to remain blind throughout and have Dinah Sheridan's love interest acting as his eyes as this would have made for a more unusual and thrilling production. I suppose that would have been too outside the box. Still, the running time is short and the pace is fast, both of which are good things, and the requisite twists and turns of the plot keep you watching.

There's a nice little set-piece in a posh apartment complex involving the concierge, Reed breaking into a room to commit a robbery, and a couple of thugs on his tail. It plays out very nicely. BLACKOUT also benefits from a decent cast. Reed isn't my favourite leading man from this period but he's decent enough here. Sheridan is as classy as ever. Kynaston Reeves plays a crotchety old fellow while Annette Simmonds is an effective gangster's moll-type character. Eric Pohlmann is the slimy villain and the great but underrated Michael Brennan his brutal thug. Ronald Leigh-Hunt and Michael Balfour have cameos, but although Sam Kydd is listed on the IMDb cast page, I failed to spot him this time.

A blind man stumps by mistake into a murder and, as he doesn't know who, why or where, nobody believes him. The premise is interesting, but from there on the film spirals down and rapidly acquires a US made Republic Serial flavor, where the hero is again and again stupidly putting himself in trouble with the baddies but luckily --as the baddies aren't that clever either-- saving his neck every time. The hero breaks and enters and breaks and enters, and he is so lucky --did I mention he is lucky?-- that he not only survives but twice he easily finds decisive clues that the baddies --did I mention they weren't clever?-- left carelessly around for him to find. Everything but going to the police; obviously, that would be too absurd. We all know that amateur detectives are always much more competent than Scotland Yard's trained detectives. To help, all the time Reed is walking around with a marmoreal face that seems to scream: "look how handsome I am". Perhaps to compensate all his beauty, the female lead is quite plain and, in the final take, she looks downright ugly. I had much higher expectations, especially being this a British film. (Perhaps I was so predisposed because the most recent British film of that era I watched was "Obsession"... and that is entirely another matter.)

Thanks to some new channels on satellite we are now able to view again many British crime thrillers from the 40s and 50s which were last shown on BBC or ITV about 30 years ago.What is often most interesting about these films is the location shots,so that you can compare London of that era with the London of today.The film is full of actors familiar from that period,including one of my favourite actors of that time Eric Pohleman.He really was a superb villain.The fact that he had a continental accent meant that this made him sound even more sinister to the post war audiences.Also featured is Michael Brennan who must have beaten up more leading men than he had hot dinners.Kynaston Reeves who usually played Judges has a longer part than usual.In all a reasonably entertaining thriller

I really enjoyed this film by the duo of Robert S Baker & Monty Berman.They cast the handsome devil Maxwell Reed (Chris Pelly), once married to Joan Collins, as a latter day James Bond type figure and an engineer, recovering from temporary blindness and quintessential English rose actress, Dinah Sheridan as a Miss Moneypenny type figure.This actress always seemed to be cast in intelligent roles.Surprisingly she had a Russian father & German mother.There were some Bond like quips such as Dinah (Pat Dale) saying to Reed, "You're a bit of a nosey Parker" and Reed responding, "Call me Parker" when the leads were establishing their credentials to each other at the beginning of the film.Dinah again demonstrated she can drive the same gull winged Triumph sports car as seen in the Tempean twin film "NO Trace" 1950, by the same production company.

Michel Brennan again played his usual "heavy" role.I again marvelled having seen "No Trace" at the blissfully traffic free roads and free parking around London.I noticed at one point Dinah was frustrated making a telephone call because another person had occupied the red GPO box first and unfortunately, mobile phones had not yet been invented in 1950!I thought "Chalky" the aero engineer was going to be a good guy until he gave the baddies a tell tale sign by a torch flash, noticed by Chris Pelly.A topical event was the electric blackout forcing householders to use candles or other illuminating devices until the electric company restored power.I remember my father doing this in the early 50s (I am 65) as Britain got on her feet and was starting to use more electric domestic power.This blackout, which gives the film its name, gave Chris Pelly an advantage using his other senses over chief baddie Eric Pohlmann.

Less worthy were the fake American accents used by some of the characters for no apparent reason. I presume the producers had been heavily influenced by seeing American gangster movies.There is a surprise character which appears towards the end which explains the whole plot, confirming my earlier suspicions.Enjoyable I voted 7/10.

Blackout is an excellent example of early 50s British crime thrillers. The unfairly neglected Maxwell Reed stars as Chris Pelly, a blind man who literally falls into a murder mystery. Pelly regains his sight after an operation and then sets about unraveling the aforementioned mystery. Forget the negative comments made about this film and about Maxwell Reed, it is an extremely entertaining film and Reed is very good as the wise-cracking hero. The producers of this film went on to produce Roger Moore's series The Saint and this film is almost like a dry run for that production. Reed lacks Moore's charisma, but he has a nice way with the one-liners and he looks good, always a bonus in films such as these. Blackout is available on DVD and is worth a few quid of anyone's money. Several other Maxwell Reed films are now also available on DVD and some of them are really good .... There Is Another Sun, Daughter Of Darkness, The Square Ring and Marilyn and all highly recommended.