Des pas dans le brouillard

Fascinating British drama, notable for having two depraved, totally unlikeable protagonists--a murderer and the blackmailer who loves him. All the trimmings are here for perfect Late Late Show credentials: Gothic mansion, bickering servants, thick fog, the portrait over the fireplace, poison, blood stains, secret letters, a clueless blonde ingénue, a hooded figure in the dark...but filmed in lush Hammer-style color, rather than a more appropriate b/w, which gives the film a ghoulish modern edge. Stewart Granger and Gene Simmons get high marks for underplaying this vile pair...particularly Simmons, who nails her final scene. What a great, unsung actress.

A great cast makes this Victorian thriller a near-classic, hampered only by a low budget. Stewart Granger stars as a recent widower who is in fact a murderer. This fact is known only to one of his his servants (Jean Simmons), who uses this knowledge to improve her station. When the wily widower ends up in a romantic relationship with a woman of his own class, he decides to put an end to the servant. From this point, everything that can go wrong does, and the clever twist ending is a real hoot. A young Bill Travers plays a barrister in love with the woman the widower has his eyes (an lips) on. Since the movie is working with almost no budget, the action is played out on basically three sets, so that it feels a bit like a theatrical play. No harm done in the end, as it is well written and wonderfully acted. Simmons absolutely shines.

This movie is certainly one of the best victorian-era thriller melodramas ever made. The atmosphere is perfect (at least according to what we expect victorian atmosphere to be). Both Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons give wonderful performances, each being ideally cast in his/her role. The suspense builds up perfectly, answering the viewers question as to how the katharsis will come at the end. And it is a very satisfying solution - with the exception perhaps of the last words said by Jean Simmons. All in all an excellent movie that deserves much wider recognition than it actually enjoys.

When we first see Stephen Lowry (Stewart Granger)he seems to be a grieving widower as he stands beside his late wife's grave in Victorian London .The truth is another thing altogether and we soon learn that he has murdered his wife ,by poison ,and concealed the evidence .Unfortunately for him he was observed by the ambitious and put upon parlour maid Lily Watkins (Jean Simmons)who blackmails him into giving her the job of housekeeper and takes possession of the deceased's jewels .She is also in love with Lowry and he strings her along with promises of marriage while plotting to kill her and marry the dutiful Elizabeth (Belinda Lee)the daughter of his business partner Alfred Travis(Ronald Squire).much to the consternation of straight arrow lawyer David Mcdonald (Bill Travers)who is in love with Elizabeth and who harbours the gravest suspicion about Lowry.

This is a well made movie ,with lavish interiors ,some striking Tecnicolor photography and a moody score .It is strikingly well acted especially by Granger who always appeared at ease in period roles .Simmons struggles a tad with the Cockney accent but still manages to convince as an opportunistic female with a pathetically unrequited love for Lowry .Strong support from Marjorie Rhodes as her nagging boss ,Peter Bull as a prosecuting attorney and William Hartnell as an oily blackmailer also boost proceedings .The whole thing is lushly and slickly made melodrama that stands out from the run of the mill studio product of its time

She died last weekend aged 80, a great star whose career never seemed to find a summit, forestalled by middling films and imprecise casting. While this Edwardian Gothic gave her one of her more intriguing roles I've always felt she was too beautiful for it. If Lily the blackmailing housemaid had been less attractive the dangerous affair with her murderous employer would have felt a lot darker, seamier and her final pathos - the little skivvy whose dream-world collapses around her - more acute. When the Grangers are together they look perfectly suited - a married star-team of their day. Full marks to their performances, though.

While one or two plot-twists are far too facile - the brother-in-law mistaking the barrister for Lowry just because he comes out of a room, for instance - Arthur Lubin's direction gets the points across clearly and efficiently though lacking the Hitchcock intensity and lingering touches which might have made this a minor classic. A solid Technicolor production there's nonetheless a certain aura of rush and tweaking here and there with odd continuity slips and scenes that suddenly trail away in mid-sentence. Some bad processing is evident when the rather wet second-leads go driving together in the new horseless-carriage, which at least provides some topically amusing light-relief. But it's a memorable little show overall, good to watch with a last glimpse of Granger that's quite clammy - and now to be cherished more than ever as another movie-icon slips away from us in the dark.