Footsteps in the Fog

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

Footsteps in the Fog is directed by Arthur Lubin and collectively written and adapted by Lenore J. Coffee, Dorothy Davenport & Arthur Pierson. It is based on the short story, The Interruption, written by Gothic novelist W. W. Jacobs. It stars Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Bill Travers, Belinda Lee and Ronald Squire. Music is by Benjamin Frankel and Technicolor cinematography by Christopher Challis.

Stephen Lowry (Granger) is found by the house maid, Lily Watkins (Simmons), to have poisoned his wife. She promptly uses the information to blackmail Lowry. But with an attraction there they begin to have a relationship, however, motives and means are far from clear...

A darn cracker of an Edwardian thriller that's redolent with Gothic atmosphere and film noir tints, Footsteps in the Fog also features nifty story telling that's acted considerably well by the then husband and wife team of Granger & Simmons. The plot features murder, betrayal and dangerous love, with warped psychology the order of the day, all done up splendidly in Technicolor by Powell & Pressburger's favourite cinematographer, Challis. Characterisations are deliberately perverse, Lily knows Stephen is a murderer, but is not afraid of him, she loves him on the terms of love that only she understands. Stephen is a dastard, dangerously so, but he's not beyond remorse either, and shows it. Both homme and femme are connivers, a recipe for disaster. These facts mark this particular coupling out as one of the most skew whiff in 50s thrillers. And thankfully when the denouement comes, it's a kicker, a real throat grabber that perfectly crowns this deliciously crafty picture. Support comes from a number of established British thespians like William Hartnel, Finlay Currie and Ronald Squire, while the art department have come up trumps for the period design. All told it's a film deserving of a bigger audience and easily recommended to classic melodrama/thriller fans. 8/10

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.

At first glance, FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG looks to be a traditional Gothic mystery about a maid becoming involved with her sinister master, who may or may not have contributed to his wife's demise. Once you start watching it, though, you quickly realise that this film is anything but traditional. Instead it's a uniquely quirky black comedy, an exploration of some of the seedier aspects of the human condition; the '50s version of VERY BAD THINGS, if you will.

Stewart Granger, who has the capacity to be wooden (see SODOM & GOMORRAH), is a good fit as Stephen Lowry, a shifty aristocrat who thinks nothing of poisoning his wife when he tires of her. Even better is Jean Simmons as his timid maid who decides to take on her master. The whole film hinges on this central relationship, and it's a real zinger.

Excellent production values, plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour, and a finely-judged humorous supporting role for William Hartnell (HELL DRIVERS) all help to provide the interest, and by the end of it FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG has become a thoroughly engrossing and atypical mystery story with plenty of twists you'll never see coming. A gem, in other words!

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.