Web of Suspicion

WEB OF SUSPICION is a fun little 'wronged man' thriller of 1959 that was made as part of a number of surprisingly modern-feeling films detailing child abuse; Hammer's NEVER TAKE STREETS FROM A STRANGER is undoubtedly the best of these, but there are lots of interesting curios out there as well, of which this one is a good example. Philip Friend plays a schoolteacher who has the misfortune to be the last person seen with a schoolgirl whose body is discovered in the woods; a Hitchcock-inspired manhunt ensues, with all of the plot ingredients gelling together rather nicely. The Frankenstein-style interlude with the blind man is particularly well handled, while Friend is a likeable lead. I was pleased to discover that this is a lot better quality than the films that the Danzigers were making a few years later.