Ayuno fatal

Strange but fun and short film.

John Ireland does a nice job as a carnival barker, Pel Pelham, who organizes specialty acts. His big one is the Starving Artist, where a man Sapolio (Erich Pohlmann) goes on display in a glass box and doesn't eat for 70 days, trying to break a past record.

As he was with the carnival, Pel has many people in his life from that world.

Sapolio, happy for the work, throws a party. During the festivities, a woman upstairs is murdered. She was blackmailing a friend of Pel's, a promoter who is in fact bankrolling the Starving Artist show. Pel visited her and asked her to stop.

Sapolio tells Pel he saw someone go up the stairs but can't remember details. When the killer learns this, Sapolio becomes a target.

Pretty routine, but it had a certain warmth, odd as that may sound. The carnival people seemed like a big family, and Ireland was fond of them. I kind of liked it.

It would be foolish to expect much from a Hammer low-budget, B-programmer and all one one can really say about this one is that it could have been far better.

A previous reviewer has suggested that a certain Joseph Losey may perhaps have contributed to the direction and if that is the case, credited director Montgomery Tully cannot shoulder all of the blame. Cinematographer William Harvey has provided oodles of high contrast lighting to impart the 'Noirish' look whilst Leonard Salzedo's score is suitably carnivalesque.

The customary Hollywood import here is John Ireland, whose glum persona one either takes to or one doesn't whilst quintessentially English Honor Blackman as his highly unlikely wife is obliged to adopt an American accent of sorts. Excellent support from Sid James as a bookie, Sydney Tafler as a blackmailer and Geoffrey Keen for once on the other side of the law whilst an assortment of colourful fairground characters make a lot of noise, notably Eric Pohlmann whose macabre 'starving man' act is one that hordes of gullible irks are prepared to part with money to see. The climax is ludicrous but the film had to end somehow.

Bound to have its devotees, this one is really for Hammer completists.

John Ireland, Honor Blackman, and a title like The Glass Tomb, how could I resist checking out this little farce of a film. John Ireland plays a bit somber here but he's still effective and brings a much needed credibility. As for Blackman, her part is so small that makes her billing seem like false advertising. There's a large cast of supporting actors all of which do a nice job with their parts. The issue here is the script/story. So many things happen but with to reason or explanation as to Why? Several killings take place and except for the starving man himself, one is left wondering why anyone else had to die. The concept of folks waiting in line to see a large man not eating, and the colorful cast of carnival folks is kind of fun. Despite some plot holes and all, at 59 minutes, The Glass Tomb is still fairly watchable.

The Glass Tomb (AKA: The Glass Cage) is directed by Montgomery Tully and adapted to screenplay by Richard Landau from the story The Outsiders written by A. E. Martin. It stars John Ireland, Honor Blackman, Geoffrey Keen, Eric Pohlmann, Sid James and Sydney Tafler. Music is by Leonard Salzedo and cinematography by Walter Harvey.

Pel Pelham's carnival is in town and the star attraction is Sapolio, a man prepared to be locked in a glass cage and starve himself for 70 days. But when a couple of murders occur at the carnival, the police become involved and suspicion starts to point its ugly finger.

Part of the Hammer Film Noir series released by VCI Entertainment, The Glass Tomb is an odd little picture that's more a collection of noirish traits and ideas than a fully fledged movie. Running at just under an hour in length, film hinges on the flimsiest of stories but just about gets away with it on account of solid performances and some spiky themes in the piece. In the mix are carnival outcasts, blackmail, murder, carnal desires, gluttony, addiction and a macabre party scene with a body upstairs kept company for some time by the murderer?! These are nicely presided over by Tully and Harvey where shadows are often prominent and a neon light and subway train serve the atmosphere very well. You do wonder what world we live in when people pay to watch a man just not eat? While the murderer is known to us from the first killing, thus there's no mystery aspect to hang your coat on. Though clearly the makers want us to observe how the murderer easily moves about this carnival group undetected and above suspicion.

Not comfortably recommended as a whole, but enough parts of the quilt for the noir fans to appreciate. 6/10

An odd crime film with an American star and some players using American accents, no doubt a product of the UK-US film making agreement of 1948. Set in London, the story concerns Pel Pelham (John Ireland), a carny barker with a bright idea for show to pack in crowds. Believe it or not, his idea is to have spectators watch a man starve himself for 70 days, while enclosed in a glass cage (The Glass Cage is an alternate title of the movie). Suspending disbelief, we watch people line up to see this overweight man (Eric Pohlmann) deny himself food. But that's just background for the narrative. The interesting part begins when a young woman who lives upstairs from Pohlmann and his wife is murdered. Those of us watching the film know who the killer is, but it's up to police and Pel's ingenuity to uncover the perpetrator, not only of the woman, but of the Starving Man himself who has also been murdered since he was a possible witness. Featuring Sid James, Sidney Tafler, Honor Blackman as Pel's wife and young actor playing their son whose voice sounds like he's been dubbed by a woman. Preposterous? Yes. But it's rather fun to watch it all play out in 59 minutes.