Tiger by the Tail

I thought TIGER BY THE TAIL was one of the better Tempean Films movies I've watched, something which has a kind of Hitchcockian 'wronged man' thriller flavour to it. It stars the Kansas-born imported American star Larry Parks as a journalist who arrives in London and immediately falls for the charms of a femme fatale, played well by Lisa Daniely. Unfortunately she's also involved with a criminal gang, who soon have Parks in their sights.

This is a short and snappy chase thriller with plenty of tension to recommend it. There's also a surprising amount of atmosphere and funny moments, like when Parks visits Thora Hird's house which is straight out of a Hitchcock movie like SABOTEUR. Parks and Constance Smith aren't the most exciting of leads but they're not bad and you get supporting players like Alexander Gauge and Ronald Leigh-Hunt who can be relied upon to give professional performances. The interlude in the hospital is very well done. John Gilling once again directed, from his own script.

The action is fast, the drama tends to constantly accelerate, the villains are unpleasant enough, one of them appropriately sadistic and stupid at that, the murders tend to multiply, the car chases tend to constantly involve more cars, both the ladies are attractive and lovable enough, although one gets killed and the other gets out of any trouble without a scratch, the plot is thick enough and constantly gets thicker, while we never learn anything about the "committee" which all the villains seem frightened to death of, so the main intrigue is actually missing, suggesting some monkey business in counterfeit money and laundry. Lisa Daniely as the first lady in the parade actually cautions Larry Sparks not to ask any questions, while he commits the mistake of insisting on getting something out of her, which triggers all the problems and plunges him into a gruesome mess of unpleasantness. Larry Parks as the journalist is actually very much reminding of Jack Lemmon, they are the same type, and there is a lot of humour refreshing this film. Larry Parks was actually one of those many exiles from the US during the McCarthy witch-hunts, and like so many others he did better in British films than at home.

John Desmond is an American newspaper journalist who has arrived in London to report on the British perspective of stateside politics. He begins dating an attractive brunette named Anna Ray, but she is secretive and volatile and often ends their dates prematurely. During an argument, Desmond snatches up her diary and Anna draws a gun on him. She is killed in the ensuing struggle and Desmond absconds with the diary. Anna, however, was mixed up with a gang of international counterfeiters and that diary contains a coded list of their contacts. Helped only by his secretary Jane, Desmond goes on the run and tries to decode the list in his search for answers.

John Gilling directed and co-wrote this chase thriller for Robert B. Baker and Monty Berman's Tempean Films, based on John Mair's novel Never Go Back. It's in the Hitchcock vein of North By Northwest and The 39 Steps and, though it cannot equal those classics (I'm on a lifelong quest to find a film that does), it certainly brings a fair bit of excitement and humour. Larry Parks had starred as crooner Al Jolson in two biopics for Columbia Pictures but, as a communist, he was blacklisted by all the major Hollywood studios and had to come to Britain to find work. He makes for an unmemorable lead here, however, but is supported well by the beautiful Constance Smith. Her character, Jane, is coolly efficient at the top of the film and becomes a plucky and resourceful heroine in the face of danger.

There are a whole bunch of good scenes in this one, including a bit in which Jane is followed on her way to a rendezvous with Desmond and outwits the heavies and even pulls her tongue at them! There's also a tense scene in which Desmond is kidnapped and roughly interrogated. He's up against a couple of old-school English bad guys (Cyril Chamberlain and Alexander Gauge) who are all silky-voiced suavity and chilling politeness ("Battered but unbowed, eh, Desmond? Why don't you speak up and spare us all this unpleasantness?"). He manages to confuse them enough to escape and is chased onto a railway line, where he starts offing the heavies. There's a nice bit of comedy when he hides out in a farm and meets a young Thora Hird (well, younger than we're used to - she was never young-young, was she?).

Until about three-quarters of the way in, I thought I was looking at a four-star film here. Even the comedic sequence in which Desmond is in hospital and apparently suffering with amnesia is good enough. For all that, however, the ending is underwhelming. There's a fight with Desmond and a heavy immediately before it, but there's no sign that it's the final fight. A car chase with the police doesn't feature Desmond, so feels perfunctory. There's a bit of ambiguity in the ending, too, and the message is one of regret, which leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. Nevertheless, this is worth seeing and I think anyone who sat down with this film would have a good time.

Despite having a pretty lacklustre cast, John Gilling adapts his own story quite well here to create a slightly more intriguing mystery. This time the visiting American box-office star is Larry Parks and he dons the role of journalist "Desmond". He has barely stepped off the plane when he finds himself embroiled with "Anna" (Lisa Daniely). Her part in the film is somewhat short-lived and soon our intrepid reporter is discovering that not only is he a person of interest to the police, but he is also being sought by her erstwhile employers who know that he has her valuable - and incriminating - contacts list! What adds a little to the interest here is the style of story-telling. Whilst it does deprive the plot of much jeopardy, it also sets an effective template for what is the retrospective nature of the unfolding of events. The supporting cast - notably Constance Smith as his assistant "Jane" are adequate and although it could comfortably have lost fifteen minutes off the rather meandering central section of the film, it's still a decent little thriller.

Writing in the second edition of his seminal book on the history of crime fiction "Bloody Murder " the esteemed British critic Julian Symons bestowed strong praise on the novel "Newer Look Back " by John Mair saying it was well in advance of its era in terms of psychological insight and morality . This movie is based on the novel and signally fails to do it justice .It's not actively bad -just very pedestrian and predictable .It opens vividly with the figure of US London based journalist John Desmomd staggering through the deserted streets severely wounded ,and being taken into custody by the police .The tale then unfolds in flashback .Desmond has accidentally killed a woman with whom he is embroiled in an affair .She was a member of a counterfeiting gang whose diary ,which is in his possession ,contains a code which is the key to the continuing operation of the gang .His life is in danger from the gang and he goes on the run aided by his secretary .He is captured ,escapes and feigns amnesia before the conclusion of the tale

Poorly acted and perfunctorily directed this is not a movie that ever rises above the mediocre and those wanting a version of the novel should seek out copies of the BBC TV version from the mid 1990's .