Damen i svart

How can you distinguish the color black in a black and white movie? Well yes you know it isn't a color that will be light on screen, but other than that? Ok all kidding aside, you have to be in the mood for a black and white movie - even if it is a good one like the one right here.

You also have to be down with detective or crime stories - and suspend your disbelief. The story takes its sweet time - but the pacing makes sense. So get on with the program - and enjoy.

And by that I mean, some rare creepy moments, a good twist at the end, but generally boredom in-between. As in the other films, of which I have now seen four out of five, Arne Mattsson directs with a lack of imagination and style that makes the proceedings feel more like an ordeal than entertainment. The film is leaden-paced and makes its 105 minutes feel like an eternity. But the finale IS good. I have to admit that Annalisa Ericson is quite stunning as Kajsa Hillman....it's a pity she got sidelined in some of the following entries. Freddy the dimwitted "assistant" is a bit more restrained here than in other entries; we also get to find out how he met Sonja....if you can believe she would fall for him. ** out of 4.

Husband and wife private detectives John and Kajsa Hillman are visiting friends in rural Sweden. They soon learn of an intriguing mystery; a woman has disappeared and the locals seem to suspect 'The Lady in Black'; a ghost who has apparently been haunting the area for a hundred years! In what follows a local man has a riding accident... that was no accident then disappears presumed murdered. There are plenty of suspects but evidence seems to point to one in particular.

I thought this was a fun murder mystery. The plot may seem like something from an episode of 'Scooby Doo' but to be fair this was made ten years before that show started. Excluding the possibility that the ghost did it there are a good number of suspects. The tone of the film is fairly light with humorous moments that keep it from ever getting dark. Most of this humour is provided by Freddy Sjöström, he Hillman's somewhat bumbling assistant who appears far more interesting in an attractive young model that his job. The cast is solid; especially the leads and the location suits a murder mystery; fairly remote and without too many people. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of classic mysteries looking for something a little different.

These comments are based on watching the film in Swedish with English subtitles.

First of five film adaptations, between 1958 and 1963, of detective novels by Folke Mellvig and Lars Widding, starring the Hillman couple, private detectives played by Annalisa Ericson and Karl-Arne Holmsten.

The overall tone is light, almost comedic, halfway between the Thin Man couple and Charlie Chan's deductive powers. There's even a clumsy sidekick, Freddy, played by Nils Hallberg.

In this episode, in particular, there is a certain gothic appeal arising from the murderous character of the Lady in Black, a kind of specter, very real, who kills by strangulation.

All in all, a light and enjoyable detective story, with just enough emotion, in the old Agatha Christie way. A formula for success, anywhere in the world.

Freddy was super annoying, but everything else good