O Regresso de um Estranho

"The Stranger Came Home" is a 1954 British noir directed by Terence Fisher and starring Paulette Goddard. The film is based on a novel by George Sanders, THE George Sanders. Apparently he wrote a few novels. Let's hope they were more interesting than this.

Goddard plays Angie Vickers, whose husband Philip disappeared four years ago on a fishing trip in Portugal and is presumed dead. He suddenly comes home after having amnesia. His memory of the night he disappeared is dim, but he knows that one of the three friends who accompanied him to Portugal wanted him dead. When one of them turns up dead, Philip is the obvious suspect.

This thing is slow as molasses, with a sleepwalking performance by the leading man. Goddard gives the film some class and spark. She's beautiful, charming, and has a nice wardrobe.

Skip it.

Paulette Goddard was in early age one of most beauties actress at Hollywood scene, drawing attention of Charlie Chaplin who marry her, made great movies, in this minor British unknown Noir she is already older for the role, even so was a highlight to promote the picture, an unusual story of a disappeared wealthy businessman Philip Vickers who suddenly appears to find out who try out killed him in sea fishing travel with four friends at Portugal four years before, there someone hits his head and he fell off at ocean, stays with amnesia and has to work as seaman to survives, recovering his memory afterwards is backing home he suspects for all four former friends including his wife Angie (Paulette Goddard) soon one of the four is found death at river, the police takes over the investigation always suspecting of Vickers had commited as crime revenge, a dense and intriguing Noir, aside Goddard was the top billing cast who shines is the resentful husband Vickers (William Sylvester in a robust acting ) between betrayals and hate for past happenings the movie flows in a binding shadows of doubt, well-dramatized by the skillful director Terence Fisher!!

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

I am massively behind with the "House of Hammer" podcast - months behind, but I'm still trying to catch up whenever I can and with the spirit I watched "A Stranger Came Home", or "The Unholy Four" if you prefer. It's a better premise for a movie, than in actual execution.

Four years after disappearing on a Portuguese trip, with his wife and three friends, Phillip Vickers (William Sylvester) suddenly reappears at his estate. Vickers is suspicious of his wife Angie (Paulette Goddard) as well as Job Crandall (Patrick Holt), Bill Saul (Paul Carpenter) and Harry Bryce, who are all attending a party that very night, so keeps what little he remembers about the disappearance to himself. Vickers becomes a suspect though when Bryce turns up dead, the morning after his return.

Again, the ideas of this noiry thriller are perhaps more interesting that what is ultimately provided. Part of the problem is perhaps that Vickers keeps what he's thinking to himself most of the time, especially when it comes to answering the question the other characters keep asking him "where have you been?" The murder on his first night back then leads to Russell Napier joining the film as Inspector Treheme. He joins a long line of . . . Unconventional police detectives in Hammer films, who seems to believe that Vickers did it, but not enough to take him in for questioning. The films principle failing is that, despite being just 80 minutes, it's not interesting enough to fill that time with anything other than the roundabout conversations and intimated accusations.

Performances are OK, Paulette Goddard is, as you might imagine, a class above the rest, even William Sylvester, who would be prominent in "2001. A Space Odyssey" a decade or so later. The main Hammer links are behind the camera this time, with Terence Fisher directing, but not much in the way of returning stars this time.

I say again, the premise of the film is actually reasonable interesting, but the execution is poor and the film is dull.

Neither Hammer studios nor director Terence Fisher are best known for their film noir style efforts; and after seeing this film, it's not difficult to work out why. The Unholy Four works from an intriguing plot line, and I was sure it would lead to an at least decent slice of British noir. The plot focuses on a man returning home three years after being hit on the head during a fishing trip with friends, and presumed dead. He actually just had amnesia all that time, and he returns home for revenge. It's an interesting plot on paper; but it doesn't translate to the screen well and that is largely down to a turgid script that fails to generate any interest in the main characters or their situation. The acting doesn't go above average and nobody in the cast particularly stands out, This film was made three years before director Terence Fisher would have his breakthrough hit with the horror classic The Curse of Frankenstein; and on the basis of this film, it has to be said that thrillers weren't his forte. Overall, this film might be worth a look for Hammer aficionados that want to see everything that ever came out of the studio; but for most people, this won't be of interest and should be avoided.

English suspense film with a very solid British cast, along with lone American Paulette Goddard. Sylvester, Maben, and Napier are all quite good, but it's Goddard who doesn't quite fill her characters larger than life shoes. She plays Angie, a woman all the men in the film seem to love and adore, as well as Maben's Joan, who is completely devoted to Angie. Goddard is fine but is unable to create a character of great wit, dynamism, beauty, or uniqueness to make such admiration from everyone even remotely plausible. This unfortunately undercuts large parts of the story. The direction is also a bit pedestrian and lacks vision. Despite the many flaws and weaknesses, The Unholy Four is not without suspense was still mildly entertaining.