Vengeance Is Mine

Obscure British B-movie sees Valentine Dyall, the voice of The Man in Black, regretting his decision to employ the unlikeliest of hitmen to knock him off when he learns that he only has 6 months to live. He plans for his arch-enemy to take the blame for his murder, but comes over all of a dither when he can't locate the hitman after one of those hack screenwriter-friendly medical breakthroughs saves his life. A certain cheap charm and an appearance from Sam Kydd makes it bearable.

Yes Anne Firth is playing here Linda, secretary to Valentine Dyall who is planning revenge on a previous business associate who embezzled money from Dyall's previous employer and who covered his tracks so well shifting the guilt onto Dyall who then spent a long time in gaol and for which he now plans his revenge.

I first noticed Anne Firth when she played "Miss Harper" in "The First of the Few" (1942) opposite Leslie Howard who played R.J. Mitchell famous designer of the "Spitfire" and I fancied her then.Perhaps I like being dominated! but I jumped at the invitation on YT to see her again in a leading role.It is a shame she made so few films.Yes this is a short film with a sudden ending, rather as if the producer on poverty row ran out of money.Short but sweet, I awarded it 6/10.

Valentine Dyall has just been released from prison, and he has vengeance on his mine, vengeance on his ex-partner Arthur Brander, who framed him into prison. Dyall intends to ruin him, delaying his deliveries, sabotaging his equipment, gradually destroying his business and his life. After a while, not only is he watching his plans do well, but Dyall's business is doing well, and he's in love with his secretary, Anne Firth, and she with him.

Then Dyall discovers he has a disease. He can retire and he may live a few years: otherwise, six months. So he works out another plan and hires Richard Goolden (in a fine little creepy role) to murder him and frame Brander in five months. Goolden looks upon it as an interesting professional challenge, accepts his retainer -- in pounds, not guineas -- and goes away. Next Dyall learns of an operation that can save his life. Can it save him from Goolden?

My first encounters with Dyall was as an occasional performer on BBC's THE GOON SHOW, usually parodying his radio performance as "The Man In Black"; I suppose he added something, with his low, sonorous voice, but how could I be sure he wasn't really Peter Sellers? He does well here in this cheap, short, rather creepy production. It's clearly a lesser effort, produced, written and directed by former assistant cameraman Alan Cullimore. There's little wrong with it except for a horribly intrusive score.

It is rare to see actor Valentine Dyall playing a leading role as a goody. Even rarer to see character actor Sam Kydd having a more substantial role in a movie.

Vengeance is Mine is a low budget quickie. Dyall plays Charles Heywood who was wrongly imprisoned. When he is told by his doctor he is dying and only has a few months to live he seizes an opportunity to get vengeance on a former associate who framed him. Heywood hires a hit- man to kill him and then make it look like that it was the former associate that did it.

The hit-man, a meek looking man accepts the assignment but Heywood then finds out that he needs to stop him carrying out his side of the bargain.

This is a curious crime drama, some of the acting is stiff, the picture quality is below average yet it maintains your interest as it moves quickly and has a short running time.

From 1943, Valentine Dyall was making himself one of the most well-known voices in Britain as the so-called 'Man in black', host of the popular BBC radio series Appointment With Fear. He was frequently seen on screen also though usually just in supporting starring roles, so Vengeance Is Mine is a rare opportunity to see him as the lead.

Dyall plays Charles Heywood, an embittered man whom we learn has recently been released from prison. He had spent several years incarcerated after being framed by a crooked business partner, Richard Kemp (Arthur Brander). By making the evidence point towards Heywood, Kemp was able to remain free and continue to build his own corrupt business empire.

Now that he is at liberty once more, Heywood is determined to revenge himself by bringing Kemp to ruin, and recruits some old friends to assist him, notably Stacy, played by the ever-reliable Sam Kydd, one of the most ubiquitous faces in post-war British cinema.

However, events take an unexpected turn when Heywood falls ill. An initial diagnosis gives him just six months to live, which leaves Heywood with the prospect of falling short in his plan to bring down Kemp. He then devises another scheme and hires a hitman to give him a quick, mercy killing before his illness can run its course, but to make the death look like an act of murder on Kemp's part. This will give Heywood the satisfaction he craves even in death.

But when Heywood subsequently decides to cancel that plan, he can't as the hitman is nowhere to be found. Consequently Heywood must live with the knowledge that he could be murdered at any time...

This was a low-budget affair hence being devoid of any real big names in the cast. Most of the hour-long running time is taken up with conversation in the confines of an office and has a rather stagey feel, not helped by some rather flat, clichéd dialogue: "A man can do a lot of thinking in prison", "I know what you're thinking, that I'm mad, but I'm not, just hear me out." etc etc.

Although the premise has excellent potential for drama, the plot construction is very awkward. Considering the short running time of the piece, the audience has to wait too long for Heywood to explain his plan, and when he finally does, this is by means of a long-winded flashback which shows nothing of his original interaction with his enemy or of his arrest, yet labours on him renting a new office and negotiating the price. It's not even all that clear why Heywood needs a new office and a secretary anyway, except of course that she acts as his love interest in the last third of the film, a relationship which isn't explored very deeply.

The eventual confrontation between Heywood and Kemp at the climax is brief and not really worth the wait.

The film's greatest triumph is arguably the choice of Richard Goolden to play the hired assassin, Parsons. Not the expected moody, sinister character but a rather genial, well-spoken gentleman. This actually makes a lot of sense, as such an individual would attract a lot less suspicion and be able to strike at targets from close range.

Overall, this is a rather thin and clumsy realisation of a decent story. Even within the tight constraints of the budget, much more could have been done to tell the story in a more exciting, dramatic fashion. However, the decent premise and cast make it a pleasing watch, if one can put up with the rather inferior standard of the film print which is used for the current TV broadcasts.