Pink String and Sealing Wax

A regrettably subdued film from a first-rate director. He hadn't really got into his stride when he made this. Its studio setting feels as if it were something of a straitjacket for him.

There are compensations, though. There is an excellent leading lady, Googie Withers, who smolders superbly. Mervyn Johns is likewise splendid as a rigid paterfamilias. There a number of imaginatively shot scenes, notably the main act of villainy. And there are a couple of unintentionally hilarious moments, such as when a subplot character sings HOME SWEET HOME to gain the attention of Dame Nellie Melba - no, I'm not making that up.

Ronald Hamer's masterpieces were soon to come: IT ALWAYS RAINS ON Sunday (again with Ms Withers) and KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS.

I must admit a level of disappointment. I am getting these films from a list called Best British Noirs. I have to say that I haven't found the level very high. It's also possible I have already seen the best ones.

This film takes 45 minutes for a plot to develop. I know films have lost the art of the buildup, but it's one thing when you're waiting for the San Francisco earthquake to start and another for a woman to decide to poison her husband.

Most of the film, set in Victorian England, concerns a family run by a strict and unreasonable father. The son in the family meets the flirtatious soon to be widowed Googie Withers. She uses him to make a boyfriend jealous and then steals strychnine from the family pharmacy to kill her drunk husband.

A subplot has to do with the older daughter wanting to pursue professional classical singing. The singing did capture that old-fashioned technique students were trained in, with lots of tremolo.

The title refers to the way pharmacists wrapped their packages.

Googie livens up the proceedings.

Pink String and Sealing Wax is directed by Robert Hamer and adapted to screen by Diana Morgan from the play written by Roland Pertweee. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Gordon Jackson, Jean Ireland and Sally Ann Howes. Music is by Norman Demuth and cinematography by Stanley Pavey.

The wife of a pub landlord plots to rid herself of her abusive husband - roping in the innocent son of a chemist to achieve her aims.

One can sometimes forget that Ealing Studios was not solely about crafty comedies, it was a production house of many genre splinters. Here they dabble in the realm of the dark period piece, setting it in Victorian England down on the South Coast in Brighton. Essentially it's a straight forward plot line of a potential murderess and the big questions of if she does it and if so will she get away with it - more pertinently, will someone else be taking the fall?

Within this simple plotting though, there's a fascinating group of characters operating out of this part of Brighton - chiefly out of The Dolphin Public House and the local Pharmacy. There's class distinctions which grab the eyes and ears, but mostly it's the everyday actions of the main protagonists that hold court.

Johns (excellent) is the pharmacist and an almost tyrannical husband and father, his treatment of his family in the name of tough love is irritatingly troubling. It's no wonder his kin want to fly the nest in search of happiness. Pub landlord Joe Bond (Gary Marsh) is an abusive drunk, while his wife Pearl (Withers top draw) is a man chaser and as we know, a murderess in waiting.

The support characters are a mixed bunch of barfly gin guzzlers, jack the lads or wannabe singers who fill the air with a shrill din. All of which is cloaked roughly with a melodramatic bleakness that's initially slow to get off the ground, but comes to the fore for dramatic worth come the second period of the story.

This is far from being Hamer on his best form, he would be saving that for Kind Hearts and Coronets 4 years later, but with Withers good value, the period flavours strong and the photography suitably set at moody, this is well worth a peak for genre enthusiasts. 6.5/10

Excellent acting from the lead players, (especially from Mervyn Johns as the puritanical Victorian pater familias and Googie Withers as the pub landlady and murderess), and a good supporting cast as well mean that this Victorian-era pot boiler set in Brighton could have been something special, given the right direction. Unfortunately, though, it lacks this latter quality and the plot development is disjointed and lacks the necessary twists and thrills to have done the job. What results is a very average, Saturday afternoon matinee thriller, which leaves you thinking of the many ways it could have been improved upon. Perhaps a film studies seminar could use it for this purpose? 6/10.

Pearl (Googie Withers) is unhappily married. She is having an affair with the unscrupulous Dan (John Carol) and befriends David Sutton (Gordon Jackson) who works at his father Edward's (Mervyn Johns) chemist shop. A chemist shop gives you access to poisons........so guess what Pearl has in mind for husband Joe (Garry Marsh)? Can she get away with her plan...?

Mervyn Johns, John Carol and Googie Withers put in the best performances. In fact, the whole cast are good, apart from Sally Ann Howes who plays "Peggy" and, despite a couple of funny moments, is as wooden as ever. Even the comedy character of "Miss Porter" played by Catherine Lacey is on the right side of irritating.

Unfortunately, the story only develops when Pearl is on screen. There are 2 definite parts to the story and the better episodes take place at the pub. What a shame that large sections of the film are devoted to family life at the Sutton household. We really don't need the storyline concerning the 2 daughters, Victoria (Jean Ireland) and Peggy. Mervyn Johns is a good enough actor to portray tyrannical power without back-up from these women. Victoria wants to pursue a singing career against her father's wishes. After being subjected to her shrill voice on more than one occasion, the audience can only take his side in this matter. There is one very cringeworthy scene where we are subjected to her singing the whole of "There's no place like home" to a professional singer and it's just terrible. She sings on several more occasions in which she just becomes excruciatingly annoying. We even have to home in on her voice during a church scene where the congregation are singing a hymn......Stop it!......She sounds crap!

I was slightly let down by the ending to this film - it seemed a cop-out. I wanted to see a trial and maybe a final twist - I think the best option for Pearl would have been to leave town sharpish! Despite the tedious sections of atrocious singing in this film, it is a film that is worth keeping to watch again.