Walk a Tightrope

Americans Dan Duryea and Patricia Owens made this truly dreadful little programmer in Britain in 1964 and it's almost certainly the worst thing either of them ever did. The British cast includes one-time James Bond wannabe Terence Cooper and Richard Leech. Cooper's married to Owens. Duryea is the hitman hired by who to kill who and Leech is the friend who witnesses the hit and they are all dreadful; this movie may have the worst acting to be seen in the sixties. The plot itself isn't bad and director Frank Nesbitt makes good use of his London locations, (which is about all you can say in his favour; he only made three films of which this was one), and while it only lasts 69 minutes it feels much, much longer. It is, in fact, the kind of Z-movie that gives Z-movies a bad name. To be avoided at all costs.

"Walk a Tightrope" from 1964 is a British B film starring Dan Duryea and Patricia Owens.

Duryea plays a criminal, Lutcher, who tells his girlfriend (Shirley Cameron) that he has a job. We see him shadowing the wife of an architect, Ellen (Owens). She arrives home with her husband and his partner. The partner goes upstairs. Lutcher walks in and shoots Ellen's husband (Terence Cooper).

Ellen collapses, which causes Lutcher to act surprised. He wants the rest of his money - after all, she's the one that hired him to kill her husband. The devastated Ellen vehemently denies this.

Duryea is wonderful, and this will keep you guessing until the end. As far as the actress playing his girlfriend, Shirley Cameron, I didn't understand one word that came out of her mouth.

Otherwise really interesting.

Dan Duryea is Lutcher, an unstable and violent drifter. The good news, which he tells his girlfriend, is that he has a job. The bad news, which he doesn't, is that it is to kill someone. Patricia Owens plays Ellen, the devoted wife of Jason, who is traumatised when Lutcher bursts in and shoots him, and even worse, insistently accuses her of paying him to do it.

This is a gripping and suspenseful thriller that keeps you guessing right to the end. Dan Duryea is at his best, particularly in the scene in the magistrates' court; no matter how unsympathetic his character may be, he can't help but make you smile. Owens is convincing in the difficult role of Ellen, while the unfortunate Jason is Terence Cooper, one of the least known Bonds, in the Sixties' CASINO ROYALE. Canadian born actor Neil McCallum, responsible for the script from a story by New York writer Mann Rubin, as well as playing prosecuting counsel, was shortly to become a household name as one of the stars of the BBC Mafia series, VENDETTA. There's also the perennial plain-clothes officer of British B movies, Trevor Reid, a role he tended to share with the not dissimilar Ballard Berkeley. A poverty row production, maybe, but a compelling and entertaining little film as well.

Ignore the bad reviews, most of which seem to be written by people who just don't like grim B&W thrillers from 1960s England. This is, in fact, a briskly paced but gripping British film noir with an amazing final scene twist that forces you to see the whole film from a different perspective. With strong performances from the great Dan Duryea and Patricia Owens, the film explores the class and gender biases of the early 1960s British judicial system, as well as telling a great story with many twists and turns. Also of great interest is the fact that much of the film was shot on location in and around Strand on the Green and Isleworth in south west London. I don't know if the white pub is still there, but if so I would love to visit it. I first saw this gem of a film on Talking Pictures TV, but I only caught the second half so missed much of the narrative detail. A couple of years later I finally managed to track it down and was delighted to discover it is still available on DVD.

An underrated thriller, with a final twist which would not be out of place in an Agatha Christie's whodunit.

The beginning of the movie may puzzle the viewer and may seem confused and off-putting;but further acquaintance generates a tense suspense : the crummy flat where Dan Duryea and his mistress live, "I've got something to do " says he ; then the bizarre atmosphere in the street and the posh people who are in direct contrast to the first characters "Seems I've been being followed" Jason says ,connecting both worlds.

Jason is murdered ; the killer claims that he was paid by his wife Ellen to do away with him; but she denies it and cries over her late man's body ;but is she really the weeping widow? Or is she putting an act? And her attentive escort ,Doug , who stands by her : is he her accomplice? "Now, you're alone ,and so is she" says the cop. Or ,unbeknown to her, did he want to get rid of his partner who works with him as an architect?

Patricia Owens shines in this Christiesque riddle.