The Man Inside

I have never heard of Director John Gilling - and with good reason! At least on IMDB, his work does not get much by way of high ratings.

That said, he had a hand in THE MAN INSIDE's script, and it ain't half bad. Clearly, despite scenes in Lisbon (I would contend that it is really a run down part of Madrid, the locals even speak castillian, not Portuguese, irrespective of the obligatory "obrigado"), Madrid, Paris and London, this has the look of a low budget flick.

The action is entertaining enough, with some zesty moments but cinematography by - to me unknown - Ted Moore is generally dark, mostly inside trains, and not overly memorable.

Nigel Patrick stands out as Sam Carter, who insists on being addressed as Carrasco (meaning "executioner" in both Portuguese and Spanish) . He reminded me of Mr Holland in THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (UK 1951), memorably played by Alec Guinness, but with a far colder and more evil drive, to the point of actually icing two or three people along the way, all for the sake of holding on to a priceless diamond.

I agree with other reviewers that Jack Palance seems miscast. I would have loved to see Joel McCrea in his role as March. Anita Ekberg's posterior alone is worth the price of admission, and seeing her whole must have been a massive boner... hmm, bonus, to many a young male spectator at the time.

Bonar Colleano makes a credible, sophisticated heavy with stylish glasses to boot.

Sid James with a US accent and Newley as a Spaniard miss the mark, though, despite the latter's quick thinking - his English is just too good to come across as a convincing Spaniard.

All told, watching this 90-minute flick is no waste of time. 7/10.

Just finished watching this on Talking Pictures and was very entertained. The film cracks along at a decent pace and the cast are supported by a decent, and often humorous, script. The first-call British actors all turn in their usual good performances (no Sam Kydd though, most have been an oversight) although Sid James's American accent leaves a lot to be desired. As well as a good storyline, one of the delights is seeing European capital cities in the late 1950s. A lot of the film is on location, and as such, for British audiences, this must have seemed impossibly exotic and romantic. The train sequence at the end has echoes of 'From Russia With Love' which was made five or six years later. Finally, a word for Anita Ekberg's corsetry, which deserved an Oscar all of its own. Recommended.

Sam Carter (Nigel Patrick) is a seemingly normal guy. He's predictable, people like him and he's the last person you'd think was a criminal. But Sam has been playing the long game and after years of 'normalcy', this bookkeeper for a jeweler not only steals a huge diamond, but he kills one of his coworkers to get away with the gem. Then, through the course of the story, he tries to blow up an American investigator (Jack Palance) and kills again! Clearly this 'nice guy' ain't so nice after all!

The story is told from the viewpoint of the investigator, Milo March (Palance) and takes him from Britain where the crime occurred to the European mainland. But Carter always seems to be just ahead of him or makes an escape...thanks to him being such a vicious man. Along for the ride is a beautiful woman (Anita Ekberg).

The fact that Carter seems to escape much too easily...mostly because March has no backup (which makes little sense considering how dangerous Carter is)...is a deficit of the story. Still, despite this, it's tense and worth seeing. It's also a bit surprising to see Palance playing the hero...something he really wasn't too familiar with at this point in his career.

By the way, you might wonder why an American actor stars in this British film. In the 1950s and 60s, it was not uncommon for European film companies to hired famous American actors (usually second-tier ones, as Palance was at the time) to star in the films. It was assumed the name recognition would help with sales...especially in the American market. It was most common in Italian movies but it was also true in many German and British films.

John Gilling was, for the British film industry, a director who gave us thrillers, adventure movies and also horror ones, as also did Terence Fisher, Roy Ward Baker, Freddie Francis. But for each of those directors, we always remind the horror features. For John Gilling, we remind THE REPTILE, SHADOW OF THE CAT, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, MUMMY'S SHROUD but never his thrillers: PICK UP ALLEY, MAN INSIDE, IT TAKES A THIEF - THE CHALLENGE. I don't even speak of this colonial adventure films speaking of pirates or British Army in India or Afghanistan - BRIGAND OF KANDAHAR, BANDIT OF ZHOBE. For all those films, non horror I mean, Gilling brought his trade mark in the script, directing. Here, he meets Anita Ekberg with whom he also made PICK UP ALLEY, a good thriller where the villain Nigel Patrick nearly steals the show for his performance.

A detective pursues a stolen diamond and a voluptuous mystery woman.

This is a curious production that had me puzzled until I read Zipper69's informative, if dismissive, review. In my view, he's a little too negative, but the movie remains a disappointment, mainly because of the odd casting. As an actor, Jack Palance may be many good things, but a dashing leading man he's not. Plus, his performance here remains just plain weird, the southern accent about as good as mine. I'm not sure what Palance is reaching for, but the director should have exercised better control. Then there's Ekberg, the mammary goddess, who's a first-rate model, but a third-rate actress, especially as a mystery woman. Between them, they distract heavily from the story itself.

Nonetheless, the plot twists with the golf ball are cleverly inventive, along with the hectic park scene with the magician and the kids. There's also some good noirish photography, but that car trapping the man in the narrow alley was a crime drama cliché even in 1958. Nonetheless, with more appropriate casting and a more engaged director, the film did have real potential. Too bad, it remains a disappointing misfire.