Impulse

A bored man gets himself in a heap of trouble while his wife is away in Impulse, a 1954 British film starring Arthur Kennedy and Constance Smith, directed by Cy Endfield.

Arthur Kennedy, a brilliant actor, did make some films in England, though I'm not sure why. He had a wonderful Broadway and US film career, receiving several Oscar nominations. On top of which, he had to work with Constance Smith. By 1954 she had been fired by Rank and dropped by 20th Century Fox. She came to a terrible end.

In Impulse, he plays a real estate agent who is restless. He lives in a small town that offers no excitement. With his wife (Joy Shelton) away for the weekend, he goes to a bar and notices a beautiful woman (Smith) who seems to be ducking the police.

Later, her car has broken down so he offers her a lift. She's a nightclub singer and has to get back to London. He attends the show.

Before he knows it, he's involved with stolen jewelry, a murder, and dangerous criminals, not to mention a woman who can ruin his marriage.

Actually, the stories of Smith and and Jean St. Clair, who played the neighbor, are much more fascinating than this film.

From 1952 to 1969, St. Clair was married to Jack Baer, an art dealer who owned a gallery. They divorced in 1969, but in the early '70s, she was imprisoned for setting fire to his gallery.

Constance Smith, as mentioned, was fired first from Rank for being difficult, then dropped by 20th Century Fox after a series of B films. She was replaced early on in the film "I'll Never Forget You" starring Tyrone Power.

In 1962 she was sentenced to three months in prison for stabbing her boyfriend, documentary maker and film historian Paul Rotha. In 1968, she stabbed him for a second time and was charged with attempted murder. They married in 1974, and broke up in 1978. Smith tried several times to kill herself. Due to drug and alcohol addiction, her last years were spent in hospitals or working as a cleaner.

Impulse pales in comparison.

(1954) Impulse CRIME DRAMA

Co-written and directed by Cy Endfield that has reality salesman, Alan Curtis (Arthur Kennedy) who while his English wife, Elizabeth Curtis (Joy Shelton) is away visiting her mom somewhere else. The first thing he does while his wife is away is drink at a pub, drinking next to him is a woman who appears to be on the run from the police. And upon him driving home, he then sees that same attractive woman stranded by her car as she attempted to get away from the the two men looking for her. And he allows her to stay in his flat until they get a mechanic to fix up her car. Except that she has a job as a night singer at a club for Jack Forrester (James Carney), and upon meeting him, he warns him not to get involved. Alan does not listen as he becomes more infatuated with her but continues to lie to him.

If you have never heard of Constance Smith look at the tragic details of her life on this site. It makes terrible reading and says a lot about the corruption in film making. She was beautiful and far more talented than other actors who rose to stardom. Her life is also a cautionary tale in what was and still is a male dominated industry. She acted with such actors as Jeffrey Hunter, Jack Palance and Richard Widmark. In this film she is cast with Arthur Kennedy and both of them give more than this tepid thriller deserves. What it does show in the early scenes is a portrait of the cosy mediocrity of English life in the mid-1950's. For those who are interested in the social life of the period it is also worth seeing. It is not Film noir as some here have said, but a pedestrian example of criminality with Arthur Kennedy who accidentally gets involved with it. Film Noir was more an American and French genre than British. It is a great pity that in the declining years of its genre Constance Smith was not given better roles. If you want to watch her potential then watch this film.

The detective story is trite but the real meat lies in the hero's everyday life ; the film owes a lot to Arthur Kennedy ,too often relegated in supporting parts; this excellent character actor is credible as an American emigrant who gets used to taking the five o' clock tea with his realtor partner but who does not renege on his orange juice for breakfast ;he has also a fancy for Dubonnet (an aperitif created by French Joseph Dubonnet in 1846). He seems sick and tired of his routine life, his spouse and his small town where nothing happens .As if it were not enough ,his next-to-door neighbor ,a spinster in love with him sticks as a leech. The scenes with Jean St John (including a card game in which she longs to be his partner) are worth the admission.

This diamond smugglers story is never really exciting ; actually ,it's a "north ny norwest" in miniature : the man in the street confronted to unusual events and who rises to the occasion -which is credible ,for he is a former marine-;and it's the contrast between these eventful adventures and this daily grain that is somehow endearing.

Arthur Kennedy went to England to shoot this stinker, one of innumerable Baker & Berman local productions made before that B-movie team hit paydirt with "Jack the Ripper" and other more commercial projects. It did not get an American theatrical release, like so many quota quickies of the period.

He plays a realtor whose Good Samaritan aid to femme fatale Constance Smith gets him in big trouble. She's a night club singer involved with stolen diamonds and a boring set of uninteresting characters, hardly what B-movie fans cherished in the '40s and '50s -where's some snappy dialogue or fine acting?

Instead the movie plods along, and en route to a sort of happy ending, Kennedy's misadventures never ring true. Clearly a short shooting schedule, near-zero budget and lack of imagination accounts for this not worthy time-killer.

It's the duty of filmmakers to entertain or perhaps enlighten, but such drivel shot on automatic pilot is an insult to a paying audience, and fortunately US filmgoers were spared in this case. The director's credit is in question per IMDb, but hardly worth fighting for -I like to think that Cy "Zulu" Endfield was not responsible.