A Gaiola De Vidro

One more example of what B movies can provide us, in terms of twisted schemes, inventive stories. This one is totally surprising, crazy, exciting. And seeing John Ireland and Honor Blackman can't be uninteresting. Plus, the sideshow setting, carnival surroundings are always perfect unexpected plots, such as this very one. Monty Tully was a prolific British film maker who brought us so many movies, not all at the same scale of quality though. But this one remains one of his ever best. Only the ending could have been a bit better; I expected something different, I don't know why. I recommend this film. Totally.

The Glass Tomb (AKA: The Glass Cage) is directed by Montgomery Tully and adapted to screenplay by Richard Landau from the story The Outsiders written by A. E. Martin. It stars John Ireland, Honor Blackman, Geoffrey Keen, Eric Pohlmann, Sid James and Sydney Tafler. Music is by Leonard Salzedo and cinematography by Walter Harvey.

Pel Pelham's carnival is in town and the star attraction is Sapolio, a man prepared to be locked in a glass cage and starve himself for 70 days. But when a couple of murders occur at the carnival, the police become involved and suspicion starts to point its ugly finger.

Part of the Hammer Film Noir series released by VCI Entertainment, The Glass Tomb is an odd little picture that's more a collection of noirish traits and ideas than a fully fledged movie. Running at just under an hour in length, film hinges on the flimsiest of stories but just about gets away with it on account of solid performances and some spiky themes in the piece. In the mix are carnival outcasts, blackmail, murder, carnal desires, gluttony, addiction and a macabre party scene with a body upstairs kept company for some time by the murderer?! These are nicely presided over by Tully and Harvey where shadows are often prominent and a neon light and subway train serve the atmosphere very well. You do wonder what world we live in when people pay to watch a man just not eat? While the murderer is known to us from the first killing, thus there's no mystery aspect to hang your coat on. Though clearly the makers want us to observe how the murderer easily moves about this carnival group undetected and above suspicion.

Not comfortably recommended as a whole, but enough parts of the quilt for the noir fans to appreciate. 6/10

John Ireland, Honor Blackman, and a title like The Glass Tomb, how could I resist checking out this little farce of a film. John Ireland plays a bit somber here but he's still effective and brings a much needed credibility. As for Blackman, her part is so small that makes her billing seem like false advertising. There's a large cast of supporting actors all of which do a nice job with their parts. The issue here is the script/story. So many things happen but with to reason or explanation as to Why? Several killings take place and except for the starving man himself, one is left wondering why anyone else had to die. The concept of folks waiting in line to see a large man not eating, and the colorful cast of carnival folks is kind of fun. Despite some plot holes and all, at 59 minutes, The Glass Tomb is still fairly watchable.

An odd crime film with an American star and some players using American accents, no doubt a product of the UK-US film making agreement of 1948. Set in London, the story concerns Pel Pelham (John Ireland), a carny barker with a bright idea for show to pack in crowds. Believe it or not, his idea is to have spectators watch a man starve himself for 70 days, while enclosed in a glass cage (The Glass Cage is an alternate title of the movie). Suspending disbelief, we watch people line up to see this overweight man (Eric Pohlmann) deny himself food. But that's just background for the narrative. The interesting part begins when a young woman who lives upstairs from Pohlmann and his wife is murdered. Those of us watching the film know who the killer is, but it's up to police and Pel's ingenuity to uncover the perpetrator, not only of the woman, but of the Starving Man himself who has also been murdered since he was a possible witness. Featuring Sid James, Sidney Tafler, Honor Blackman as Pel's wife and young actor playing their son whose voice sounds like he's been dubbed by a woman. Preposterous? Yes. But it's rather fun to watch it all play out in 59 minutes.

The carnival barker Pel Pelham (John Ireland) borrows some money with his friend Tony Lewis (Sidney James). In return, he convinces his friend Rena Maroni (Tonia Bern), who was Tony´s mistress, to stop blackmailing him. Pet wants to promote a side show with her neighbor Henri Sapolio (Eric Pohlmann), who is a starving man. Sapolio and his wife decides to give a party at their apartment and Sapolio glances at a man leaving Rena´s apartment. Later they find that Rena was murdered and the police suspect that one guest is the killer.

"The Glass Tomb", a.k.a. "The Glass Cage", is a mystery film by Hammer that was classified as film-noir in a recently released DVD Box. The storyline and the screenplay are flawed and weak but fortunately the movie is short and watchable. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Gaiola de Vidro" ("The Glass Cage")