Pit of Darkness

This is quite an engaging story of a man "Logan" (William Franklyn) who comes to on a bombed-out Wapping waste ground with a bloody head. On returning home, he discovers from wife "Julie" (Moira Redmond) that he has been AWOL for three weeks - and he has no idea what happened in the intervening time. It soon becomes clear that his mysterious disappearance is connected with his business - he designs and instals safes - and he must try and piece to gather what happened. Neither the writing (it's a bit repetitive) nor Franklyn are great, to be honest, but Nigel Green and Leonard Sachs (with Tony Booth) help chivvy things along now and again. It's pretty obvious why "Logan" was the target, but the perpetrators remain a mystery til quite near the end and as low budget Butcher's efforts go, this is up in their upper echelons with a smidgen of psychology injected into the plot, too. Could have done without Ronnie Hall and his crooning, though....!

PIT OF DARKNESS is another decent British B-film written and directed by Lance Comfort. He seems to have a good run of them in the early 1960s, making every penny of his low budgets count, and as a result this densely-plotted story is one of the better Butcher's Film Service outings in existence.

The film features everyman lead William Franklyn as a kind of proto Bourne, waking up with no memory after suffering a violent assault. The last three weeks of his life are a blur, but it soon transpires that he's been involved with some dodgy characters who haven't quite finished with him. Comfort keeps you guessing as to the outcome of the story, and all is eventually revealed via a lengthy flashback.

This is one of those films where everything just gels together quite nicely. It's certainly not the best of its kind but it's also hard to fault. Franklyn is a dependable lead but the supporting cast is even better. Nigel Green is the authoritative and a youthful Anthony Booth a spiv type. Nanette Newman makes an impact as a woman caught up in the plot. Leonard Sachs is a slimy villain and the delightful Michael Balfour a henchman who shows up towards the end. The climactic scenes in particular are quite exciting and overall PIT OF DARKNESS is sure to be enjoyed by fans of this genre.

William Franklyn, whose voiceover of Schweppes adverts would become a TV feature, posts a highly convincing performance here, hardly ever leaving the screen, and somehow reminding me of a younger Rex Harrison. He certainly looks suitably bamboozled to begin with, as he carefully pieces together his three weeks' absence from work and home.

Director Lance Comfort, about whom I am embarrassed to admit I know nothing, intelligently puts together a maze of flashbacks and throws in quite a few suspects until Logan (Franklyn) works out the enigma - and that begins with firm partner "enigmatically" telling him about the Ethiope's Ear, subsequently identified as the 250,000 quid diamond stolen from a tycoon called Tuscan.

Why that partner knows that crucial detail, and even recites it to him in his wife's presence - lovely Moira Redmond - is never explained and has to go down as a big minus, costing my rating one star. It deliberately deceives the viewer and detracts from the plot's credibility.

Otherwise, logical incidents advance a riveting and fluid story line, cinematography by Emmot and editing by Trumper are first class, and even the recurrent song, My Heart Is the Lover, by Martin Slavin, is really catchy.

Leonard Sachs plays the foreign-accented villain unctuously enough.

Not perfect, no masterpiece, but no waste of 79'. Recommended viewing if you like film noir.

Amnesia is a staple of film noir and has been dealt with memorably, if you'll pardon the pun, in dozens of films such as Street of Chance (1942), Somewhere in the Night (1946), Home at Seven (1952) and Spellbound (1945). More recently, Colin Farrell lost his memory in Total Recall (2012) which some will no doubt label as a techno-noir. This film, however, is easily forgotten. Lance Comfort was a prolific director. Looking at the list of films I've seen this year I come across Tomorrow at Ten (1962), Bedelia (1946), Hatter's Castle (1941,) Breaking Point (1961), The Painted Smile (1962), Rag Doll(1962), and Hotel Reserve (1944), all directed by Comfort, and all superior to this absurdly plotted, oddly photographed (there are several pointless, lingering close-ups of William Franklyn, Bruno Barnabe, Nanette Newman et al) and poorly acted (especially by Franklyn, who gives underacting a bad name) programmer that would have been more effective at the 50-60 minutes mark rather the thrill-less 77 I sat through. Still, this time tomorrow I won't remember a thing about this dud.

William Franklyn is a normal, middle-class fellow. He's got a business installing extra-secure safes for jewelers. He's got a pretty staff, a wife and a mistress. His trouble is he just woke up in the middle of an old bomb site with no memory of what he's been doing for a long time. His wife, Moira Redmond, says he's been missing for weeks. His girl friend agrees to meet him at their cottage. When he gets there, it blows up.

It's an interesting start that suggests D. O. A., but Franklyn, alas, is no Edmond O'Brien, and despite some nice camera work by Basil Emmott, it turns into a rather ordinary crime thriller, decently directed by the competent Lance Comfort. The ubiquitous Nigel Green and Michael Balfour have reasonable supporting roles.