Take My Life

I just wish I knew who dubbed Greta Gynt - she had a beautiful voice.

Gynt stars with Hugh Williams, Marius Goriing, and Francis L. Sullivan in "Take My Life," a British noir from 1947.

Williams is Nicholas Talbot, the husband and manager of opera star Phillipa Shelley (Gynt). Opening night of a new opera, an old girlfriend of Nicholas' shows up. Once they are home, Phillipa teases her husband about her; he becomes annoyed, and they start fighting. During the fight, she throws something at him and injures him in the forehead. He leaves.

The next day, the old girlfriend is found dead, and Nicholas matches the description of a man seen leaving her apartment. He is arrested.

Phillipa takes it upon herself to investigate the murder and clear Nicholas.

It's an okay drama; the evidence of the murder is somewhat flimsy. Greta Gynt was very beautiful, and I have enjoyed her films. The prosecuting counselor (Sullivan) brought a lot of life to the film, as a forerunner of Charles Laughton in WItness for the Prosecution.

Especially in the second half, when Philippa the somewhat spoiled and beautiful opera singer goes on the trail of a murderer.

Her husband is on trial for killing a former girlfriend (the magnificent Rosalie Crutchley), and with Francis L Sullivan as the prosecutor, his chances look slim. He (Hugo Williams) tries to keep up his spirits, but underneath a light manner he is desperately worried.

So Philippa sets off to follow a musical clue, wearing the kind of hat the royal family are fond of (in her case, it protects her 40s pompadour hairstyle). It leads her to a sinister gothic school in the far north, where she is shown round by Marius Goring.

There are lots of good scenes in trains and railway stations, filmed on location. When they pull into York, we fleetingly see a traveller who looks uncannily like the murdered girl. But when we recognise one of the fellow-passengers as stalwart actor Ronald Adam, we are prepared for more drama...

I'd love to read the original book by Winston Graham. Writers of historical sagas (Poldark) often do their best work when young and writing about the contemporary scene.

It's a shame that Sullivan fades out of the story early, and Philippa's modern opera seems to consist of one scene. Obviously her singing voice is dubbed, but what about her speaking voice? It is very unlike the sarcastic, seductively nasal tones of her performance in Dear Murderer. Perhaps she just adopted a different voice for this character who, though flawed, is basically a good egg.

It's a great film with great performances.... as so many reviewers here express that same sentiment so much more eloquently than I ever could....! The poorer reviews are critical in areas that only time has given them the benefit of.... 'Even' as a black and white movie there is a wonderful atmosphere that a color version could never hope to meet let alone exceed..!

If you tend to enjoy good entertainment with no pre-conceived expectations then this film will most certainly deliver.....

I sometimes wish that this fantastic app and website would also list a few of the more contemporary reviews so as to provide a sense of the film's context to ordinary film goers.... but even with that option, unfortunately, there would be very few that people might have written let alone shared....!

Hugh Williams and Greta Gynt are super as the couple trying to prove that he didn't murder an old flame at her London lodgings. He is convicted largely due to a formidable prosecution from a suitably ebullient Francis L. Sullivan but she determines to find out what really happened. The odd thing is that there are no photographs of the victim; it's as if she had no recent past... Then serendipity takes a hand and Gynt happens upon a tune that takes her to Edinburgh and soon she is on the trail to the truth. Ronald Neame's first go from the director's chair and it's a suspenseful, taut film noir well worth catching up with.

.especially if you are married to someone else! What on earth was rich layabout Hugh Williams (Nick) thinking? I say layabout but he's actually the manager of his talented operatic singer wife Greta Gynt (Phillipa). She's the one with the talent, so, yep, he's probably a layabout feeding off her success. Anyway, his ex is violin player Rosalie Crutchley (Liz) and she ends up dead which is bad news for layabout boy. He's in the dock for murder and heading for the afterlife courtesy of the death penalty. Cue sharp-witted Greta to go out and prove his innocence.

This film travels along at a good pace and is basically a thriller. The mystery element is taken away near the beginning of the film as the killer is revealed. This doesn't matter and takes nothing away from the enjoyment of the film as Gynt goes after the truth and puts herself in danger. Real danger!

The film starts with an interesting voice-over from lawyer Frances L. Sullivan as he puts his case forward for the prosecution in court. Just sit back and let the film carry you along. There are some light touches thrown in along with moments of suspense. The shop-keeper and his opening times is quite amusing – don't open till 9:00 am – ha ha. The film is nothing special but it is enjoyable as you watch it.