Enquête à Venise

(Flash Review)

An American detective come to Venice, Italy to track down a man. Early rumblings point to him being dead but the detective isn't buying it. There is a damsel in the mix who has a lot of information but doesn't know everything herself. This is one of those plots where the closer the detective gets to the truth the more intertwined he gets in the chaos. There are lots it Italian names and people to keep track of. The story clips along while being submerged in classic Venice streets. There are a handful of clever dialog zingers. A fun little Noir in an Italian setting.

PI Richard Todd comes to Venice to locate a man who rescued an American flyer during the Second World War; there's a reward for him. It turns out he's dead.

Except that people take a lot of interest in Todd when the bleeding man who came to him saying he knew how to find the dead man, turns up dead himself. After Todd explains himself to local Chief of Police George Coulouris, Todd goes hunting for the dead man, and finds clues. It all leads up to the man's widow, a local nobleman, and a assassination.

It's certainly competently written and performed, but the real star of this movie by Ralph Thomas -- who was about to make his bones with DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE -- is the city of Venice, shot in its black-and-white glory by Ernest Steward. Steward had become a regular DP the previous year, and would stick with Thomas for a few years; this would lead him into the mirthful more of the Carry On films, and along career in which he was never able to distinguish himself again. Ah, well. Sometimes a steady job is better than fading glory.

As another reviewer says this is something of an underrated film. More so since it was made in 1952. At that time exchange controls would have limited the amount of filming that could be done overseas and so much of it was studio filmed in England.

The story is intricate and the full meaning is not revealed until the final 20 minutes. If Venice seems harsh and cold its very much in the recovery from war mode yet the back drop is excellently atmospheric. The absence of tourists is refreshing. The films high contrast back and white rendition is also noteworthy.

Good cast....

Not hard to see why some say Bond meets 3rd man! Even some classy looking femmes fa tales!

Set in the short years after WW2 there is mystery and political intrigue as a private detective tries to discover the whereabouts of an Italian and reward him for his part in the rescue of an allied airman during the war.

This is an excellent early 50s murder mystery thriller set in Venice with some great set pieces and beautiful and at times striking on location photography...much better than the overrated Venice filmed in "Don't Look Back".

Great mood - a marrying of post war paranoia ( Venice is close to the then disputed city of Trieste - between the West and communist Yugoslavia) and political intrigue which reflected the chaotic state of Italian politics at the time.

Ralph Thomas ( brother of Gerald of Carry On fame and who edited this film) made his fame with the "Doctor" comedy films starring Dirk Bogarde and Iron Petticoat with Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn but he also made quite a few well above average middle budget suspense / drama films - Campbell's Kingdom (1957), Checkpoint (1956), Above Us the Waves (1955), Appointment with Venus (1951), The Clouded Yellow (1951), of which this is one of the best. The climactic chase is excellent.

Good performance from the ever reliable Richard Todd and a nifty small role for Sid James.Excellent music by Nino Rota ( Godfather, La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2) also.

A underrated gem.

Many of these detective series had to be formulaic. That is the nature of a series. So if you want to differentiate, one strategy is to introduce exotic locations. When this was made, that was still rare. The location has to be highlighted in the name, so we have Charlie Chan, the Saint, the Falcon and so in such and such a city.

The place here is Venice. Unfortunately it is not captured well. For some reason, the texture of the city escapes the usual camera. (I did like the color you got in the Clooney "The Job" and the Bond "XXX").

So the setting is largely wasted by the clumsy camera, except for a visit to a Murano glassworks. The glass factories are located on an island near the city because of the ancient fear of fire. These for hundreds of years have been a wonder of the world, once secret, now a bit tired. When this film was made, Chihuly had not yet brought Murano to our attention and the polluting effect of tourism had not occluded its magic.

It is only a few minutes in this otherwise ordinary adventure. And it is just background motion. But you might as I, hold it a dear experience to just see.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.