Take My Life

Especially in the second half, when Philippa the somewhat spoiled and beautiful opera singer goes on the trail of a murderer.

Her husband is on trial for killing a former girlfriend (the magnificent Rosalie Crutchley), and with Francis L Sullivan as the prosecutor, his chances look slim. He (Hugo Williams) tries to keep up his spirits, but underneath a light manner he is desperately worried.

So Philippa sets off to follow a musical clue, wearing the kind of hat the royal family are fond of (in her case, it protects her 40s pompadour hairstyle). It leads her to a sinister gothic school in the far north, where she is shown round by Marius Goring.

There are lots of good scenes in trains and railway stations, filmed on location. When they pull into York, we fleetingly see a traveller who looks uncannily like the murdered girl. But when we recognise one of the fellow-passengers as stalwart actor Ronald Adam, we are prepared for more drama...

I'd love to read the original book by Winston Graham. Writers of historical sagas (Poldark) often do their best work when young and writing about the contemporary scene.

It's a shame that Sullivan fades out of the story early, and Philippa's modern opera seems to consist of one scene. Obviously her singing voice is dubbed, but what about her speaking voice? It is very unlike the sarcastic, seductively nasal tones of her performance in Dear Murderer. Perhaps she just adopted a different voice for this character who, though flawed, is basically a good egg.

I just wish I knew who dubbed Greta Gynt - she had a beautiful voice.

Gynt stars with Hugh Williams, Marius Goriing, and Francis L. Sullivan in "Take My Life," a British noir from 1947.

Williams is Nicholas Talbot, the husband and manager of opera star Phillipa Shelley (Gynt). Opening night of a new opera, an old girlfriend of Nicholas' shows up. Once they are home, Phillipa teases her husband about her; he becomes annoyed, and they start fighting. During the fight, she throws something at him and injures him in the forehead. He leaves.

The next day, the old girlfriend is found dead, and Nicholas matches the description of a man seen leaving her apartment. He is arrested.

Phillipa takes it upon herself to investigate the murder and clear Nicholas.

It's an okay drama; the evidence of the murder is somewhat flimsy. Greta Gynt was very beautiful, and I have enjoyed her films. The prosecuting counselor (Sullivan) brought a lot of life to the film, as a forerunner of Charles Laughton in WItness for the Prosecution.

Intelligent narration by the judge in charge of a murder. And when you arrive at the end, you want to see again the first part to see how smart it was. First movie directed by former cinematographer Ronald Neame who worked on "Great Expectations" as adaptator. Great acting by Greta Gynt as the determined wife of her husband accused of murder but innocent. Ronald Neame was like Guy Green, Jack Cardiff, Freddie Francis, Seth Holt, Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster, Michael Carreras and many others : they could work as editor, cinematographer, screenwriter, director, and even actor.

Hugh Williams and Greta Gynt are super as the couple trying to prove that he didn't murder an old flame at her London lodgings. He is convicted largely due to a formidable prosecution from a suitably ebullient Francis L. Sullivan but she determines to find out what really happened. The odd thing is that there are no photographs of the victim; it's as if she had no recent past... Then serendipity takes a hand and Gynt happens upon a tune that takes her to Edinburgh and soon she is on the trail to the truth. Ronald Neame's first go from the director's chair and it's a suspenseful, taut film noir well worth catching up with.

Nicholas Talbot is the husband and manager of wealthy opera singer Phillipa Shelley. Tensions in the marriage are raised when Nicholas meets Elizabeth, an old flame, after a show. Hours later Elizabeth is killed at her flat with Nicholas not having an alibi. On trial for murder he looks to be heading for certain imprisonment – but Phillipa starts following her own clues in an attempt to uncover the truth.

I didn't have a clue what this was about until I watched it – so I had no preconceptions about it. It seemed to start well enough as the stall was laid out and clues were shown. However it quickly became dull and only really got better when the wife started looking for clues herself. However the thing that actually helps her find the real killer is such an absurd plot twist that it's more silly than anything else. The final 10 minutes are good but can't make this anything more than a dull mystery.

The cast are quite good but don't really have any character. I thought the fat lawyer character would play a bigger role and potentially have character a la Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution, however he didn't. Similarly the accused and his wife are quite cardboard.

Overall it's not terrible but it has nothing whatsoever that will stay in your memory. Not really worth watching.