The Frightened Man

A bit of a misleading title given that there is really nothing frightening going on here at all. Obnoxious Dermot Walsh (Julius) is expelled from university. It doesn't matter that we don't know the specifics but it is quite clearly deserved. He is horrible. His dad Charles Victor (Rosselli) offers him a partnership in the family-run antiques business but Walsh refuses it, especially given that homosexual Michael Ward (Cornelius) works there and smells so fragrant. Walsh is not having anything to do with him. We follow Walsh's story as he steals someone's girlfriend and gets in with a bad crowd. Does he make the correct decision...?

Unfortunately, the film never gets going. We are given nobody to root for and the female roles are totally insignificant other than to stress to us that the men are bad. Annette Simmonds (Marcella) should have been given a bigger role. We get an opportunity for both women to shine when they rumble certain situations but nothing is developed for them down this route. This is something the film really needed as ultimately, there is no tension and the film just wraps up. The end.

This is not as good as a Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes movie,by any stretch of the imagination. That being said,it is still a good, entertaining film. The camera work is well-done. The plot is reasonably plausable and easy to follow. Overall,a suspenseful little gem of a movie. Well worth watching.

THE FRIGHTENED MAN is another low budget British crime film written and directed by the ever-present John Gilling. Once again Gilling was working for the Berman and Baker team at Tempean Films and and once again he has managed to craft a well-told and engaging tale from very little resources.

The film features the ubiquitous Dermot Walsh (complete with his trademark white hair streak) as an anti-hero who's something of a scoundrel; he begins the film by quitting his studies at Oxford and returning to his father, begging charity. His father wants him to come and work at his antiques shop but Walsh is more interested in romancing the lodger and getting involved with some ne'er-do-well characters.

Eventually the main thrust of the film becomes your typical heist thriller, with plenty of tension utilised to keep the viewer occupied right until the fitting climax. Walsh does well as a truly detestable character but THE FRIGHTENED MAN is of particular note thanks to the efforts of the supporting cast. Charles Victor is excellent as the doting father who'll do anything to see his son succeed while Barbara Murray is never irritating as the woman drawn into his wiles. Michael Ward, Thora Hird, John Horsley, Ballard Berkeley, and Martin Benson all put in solid turns too. There's little to dislike about this well-plotted film.

John Gilling directed and provided the script for THE FRIGHTENED MAN - and I readily admit that he did well on both counts. The copy that I watched could never rate good, let alone pristine, with some truncated bits where dialogue was lost. That said, it was clear enough to deserve praise for cinematography by Monty Berman.

Those lost words notwithstanding, dialogue struck me as both convincing and involving, assisted by two very fine actor performances from Dermot Walsh as the worthless, cheating, mendacious Julius, the son of Rosselli (superbly portrayed by Charles Victor as the caring father with a past about to catch up with him). Martin Benson plays very effectively the shifty villain Alec Stone.

I found the film arresting from beginning to end without needing any extraordinary amount of action. The characters came across as believable and well rounded. With a length of 69 minutes, it is short enough that it is a pleasure to view and review. 7/10.

I saw this on the television last night. It is a good 1950's B-movie thriller. Whilst the plot is a bit hackneyed in places, it is well acted and well directed. If you like this sort of film it is well worth a viewing. If you are not a fan of this sort of film, but want to kill 69 minutes, it should do the job.