Hide and Seek

Ian Carmichael made a wonderful career from playing well-meaning, naive and gullible young gentlemen, so my interest was piqued when I saw that Hide and Seek was billed as a 'thriller'. In reality, of course, this is much lighter and at best a comedy thriller in the genre of 'The 39 Steps'; the similarities continue when we are presented with a buttoned-up emotionally repressed academic (Carmichael) paired with a free-spirited, slightly wacky and alluringly beautiful spirit (Janet Munro).

The subsequent play out - entrapment, double cross, confrontation with the bad guys and the growing attraction between the two leads is somewhat predictably formulaic but enjoyable nonetheless. Hugh Griffith stands out as a splendidly eccentric bargeman and Curt Jurgens as the main Baddie is obviously relishing his role as a cultured and charming sophisticate. The denouement is no match for the 1935 Hitchcock classic, however, and a bit 'meh'. Kieron Moore, who had a real talent for darkly smooth and menacing characters, appears but is underused.

Worse Ian Carmichael film I've ever seen,I can see how he wanted to get away from his type casting but this fell between the two stools of comedy and thriller ending up being poor at both indeed the only I realised it was a light comedy was because their were so many comedy supporting actors.never felt connected to the plot or the characters although it was nice to see Janet Munro in her bra.

I turned it off after 40 minutes.

Just so badly done and Ian Carmichael was hopelessly miscast.

The story was absurd and the whole thing was neither comedy nor thriller.

Astrophysicist David Garrett finds himself embroiled in an international game of espionage. In possession of valuable knowledge, he is ably assisted by the beautiful Maggie.

It's pretty much a comedy espionage caper, imagine if the 39 steps were rewritten with a single comedy element.

I love the artwork for this film, I actually have a poster of it on my backroom, I'd never even actually seen the film until tonight, I'd been put off by some of the feedback.

I'm actually glad to decided to watch it, not for the storyline, plot or Carmichael, all of which are adequate, I enjoyed it for one reason, the glorious performance of High Griffiths, the quirky, animal loving boatman is an absolute joy, what an actor.

Carmichael has money for old rope for this let's be honest, he does noting wrong, but his innocent, naive, slightly wet behind the ears character feels so old hat. You'll assume he never had a girlfriend, never touched alcohol, and the most exciting thing he'd ever done prior to this, was put pickle on his cheese sandwich.

Hard not to enjoy the way that David and Maggie come together, she's definitely a product of the swinging 60's, he's clearly wishing for the comfort of 1951.

The film is well produced, it looks very pleasing, the music at times is overbearing.

6/10.

This sixties era B-film used to appear occasionally on late-night TV, but in recent years seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. It deserved a better fate.

On the surface, the film plods along as an offbeat, tongue-in-cheek spy thriller. Ian Carmichael's stuffy and uncomfortable-looking astrophysicist is drawn out of his boring existence and into a web of international intrigue, after an encounter with an old friend from the other side of the Iron Curtain leads him into the clutches of an alluring but devious female (played by Janet Munro). A series of increasingly improbable adventures ensues, from which he emerges, at the end, somewhat less stuffy and uncomfortable-looking. (And this was surely the point of it all, to wind up somewhat less stuffy and uncomfortable-looking, as surely as Alan Bates was meant to wind up dancing on the beach with Anthony Quinn at the end of "Zorba the Greek".)

Much the same sort of plot one encounters in films such as "Silver Streak" and "Something Wild", both of which were made some years later. The strength of this particular film is the chemistry of its characters. Carmichael's professor develops just enough wit to prevent him from becoming a total bore. Janet Munro is especially engaging as the temptress. Oscar-winner Hugh Griffith is a standout as a rum-drinking, Shakespeare-quoting bargeman. And Curt Jurgens never takes himself too seriously as the villain of the piece.

All in all, an amusing little entry into the liberation-through-madness genre. Certainly not in the same league as "Zorba the Greek". On the other hand, I would much rather wind up dancing on the beach with Janet Munro than with Anthony Quinn.