The Man in Black

This is a chamber drama of a family, as a rich dying father leaves everything to his only daughter, who is beset by her stepmother and her daughter (who then isn't even her half-sister), who of course are interested in the inheritance, as the father only leaves them morsels. The intrigue is how they will go about it, and their method is very similar to that of "Gaslight". There is an old servant of the manor, usuallly drunk, however, whom they don't bother to count with, which is their mistake. They don't get any help either from the opportunist wooer, who thinks it will be easy to marry the heiress for her money, even though he accidentally succeeds in killing the old drunk. The whole thing gets increasingly messed up, and the greedy ladies gradually lose control of what is happening. But it is a very intelligent intrigue, all the absurd turnings of the tale are quite logical when you analyse them, but it could have been made a so much better film. As it is, it is too much condensed, which makes it superficial. A man like Hitchcock would have been needed to film a drama like this, he wouldn't have missed the opportunity for suspense and surprise, but taken better care of the vital crucial moments.

Based on the extremely popular BBC radio series from the thirties and forties, The Man in Black played by famously spooky voiced Valentine Dyall introduces the story. Yogi follower Sid James dies in his country pile leaving his fortune to his daughter. His wife looks for ways of disinheriting her through having her committed or worse.

Whilst you can quite easily see roughly what is going on here right from the start and it is all a bit twin set and pearls, there is much to enjoy here and a number of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It's an early Hammer film and its radio origins do rather betray it, but it makes for a pleasant hour and a half and nice to Sid James in a straight role for once.

Although on IMDb this is tagged as a horror movie as well as a thriller - it is not a horror film. It's a thriller, very film noir(ish). The seance might be the only real impression this a horror film. Sure there is a man speaking in a "spooky voice" in the beginning of it, a man simulating his own death through yoga, a woman seemingly going insane, ugly step-mom and step-sister trying to drive her mad but the film is a thriller... maybe with some over/under tones of horror.

I will have to agree this movie is similar to Gaslight (1944) It's sorta a rehash of it but with the mystery removed. Gaslight the better film but this one isn't all that bad.

This film helped Hammer to pave it's way into the horror genre and is worth a watch but not a film to go out of your way to find.

5/10

Sid James --in a serious role -- is a rich man who practices yoga. Before a demonstration in which he simulates being dead, he warns that anyone who speaks could kill him dead. His second wife, Betty Ann Davies, makes sure of that. She is disappointed when a quarter of a million pounds is left to his daughter from his first wife, Hazel Penwarden. There's good news, though. If she goes mad before her 21st birthday, the bequest is cut to a fifth of that, Betty Ann picks it up and gets management of that. So Miss Davies and her daughter from a previous marriage, Sheila Burrell, plot to gaslight her, with the help of money-hungry Anthony Forwood.

Nice people. Miss Penwarden seems quite wacky, alternating terror with cheerfulness as people keep dying, and she has conversations with them after they become corpses. I won't say the outcome is a surprise, but it's done with such roguish black humor, that I enjoyed it.

It's based on Valentine Dyall's hit BBC radio show of the same name, and Mr. Dyall is on hand to introduce us to the people involved. At the time, Hammer Pictures, under the "Exclusive Films" distribution marque, offered several movies based on currently popular radio shows, including DICK BARTON, DETECTIVE, MEET SIMON CHERRY, and THE ADVENTURES OF P.C. 49. None lasted more than a couple of movies.

Another movie watched ahead of the "House of Hammer" podcast related to it. Another adaptation of a BBC radio series into a film. Another one where I come away a bit disappointed by the end product, despite it seeming like a decent premise.

With his health failing, Henry Clavering (Sid James) has turned to Yoga to ease his stresses. During a demonstration one night, a falling painting startles him, causing him seemingly to die. With Henry's inheritance falling to his daughter Joan (Hazel Penwarden), his scheming second wife Bertha (Betty Ann Davies) arrives at a plan to convince the fragile Joan that her mind his failing and that Bertha would be better placed to look after their affairs. Bertha's plan is complicated by the arrival of Victor (Anthony Forwood) fiancé of Bertha's daughter Janice (Sheila Burrell) who starts to wonder if the newly minted Joan might make a better bet.

I liked the performances in this one, particularly from what turns out to be the central double act of Bertha and Janice. They bicker back and forth, and the films funniest moment comes from them. The film is not meant to be funny though, despite Sid James presence. Smoking and murder are the order of the day here. This is probably the best-looking film we've seen from Hammer so far and, despite some incongruous music choices the audio recording is solid too.

But the story is too busy for me. I just want to see Bertha try and gaslight Joan and for "Hodson" to try and rescue her. Victor ends up coming in and setting up a side plot that just complicates matters and the film moves away from the focus it should have. Bertha's scheme seems to involve opening a door and moving a photograph, good early steps but more time should have been spent there trying to convince her of her failing faculties. Speaking of Hodson, there is a reveal involving him that I wonder if might have caught more people unaware in 1950, whereas to 2022 eyes it's apparent from the first moment you see him. I also don't really see what the "Man in Black" aspect added to it, other than presumably to capitalise on the popular radio series, as the film doesn't need a narrator and the way he's tied into this doesn't really make sense.

It's not the worst film I've watched for the podcast, but not the best either and the slow plot and obvious twist mean I don't think there's much for a 21st century audience.