Alma em Sombras

Some portions of this story were inspired by a true story, though just to be clear, this is NOT a true story.

Jim Fletcher (Bill Williams) awakens in a military hospital and has no recollection of his recent past. One moment he was a prisoner of war in a hellish Japanese camp, the next he's in a hospital bed and quite a bit of time has passed. But the real serious issue here is that he's going to be court martialed for treason....and he can't recall having done anything wrong. So, he does what people like this always do in other films...he escapes in order to investigate and find out what really did happen. Along the way, he picks up a lady and she's his unwilling partner. Later, she realizes something IS going on and she helps him in his quest.

While I've seen quite a few similar sorts of films, this one is better than most. Despite being a B-movie and having lesser stars, it's well written and doesn't look cheap. In fact, it's well made from start to finish...and quite enjoyable.

Absolutely love classic film and have done for a long time. This is also one of my favourite genres and there has never been a bias against anything that's low budget. There are plenty of films actually that are low budget and are still good, same for films made quickly, have short lengths and not many well known names. But really it's my love for classic film and the genre that got me into watching 'The Clay Pigeon', not to mention that the plot sounded intriguing.

'The Clay Pigeon' turned out to be well executed in most areas. It is not one of the best films in the genre or of the decade (neither though expected, that would have been asking for too much in my view), and it is not perfect or completely lives up to the premise. It though is well made considering the budget and that it was made quickly, it also hardly wastes the potential it has. So if asked as to whether 'The Clay Pigeon' is recommended, my answer would be yes.

Good things are many. It is slickly and stylishly shot, with the noir-ish shadowy lighting adding to the mystery, in no way does it come over as cheap. The film is also directed at a crisp pace, even if not always in complete consistent control of the material. The music is haunting and doesn't come over as over-bearing or over-emphasised in mood.

On the most part, the script is leanly taut and smart. The story is mostly lively and suspenseful, as well as atmospheric. It has a great start as well as a nail-bitingly tense climax, while there is a moving scene with the mother's account of her son. Bill Williams and Barbara Hale are engaging leads and the supporting cast are more than able.

Do agree however that 'The Clay Pigeon' has too much going on in the story, especially in the latter stages that come over as over-stuffed and rushed. The film could have done with a longer length, 10-15 minutes longer so that parts could have gone into more depth, like the cops boarding of the train.

While liking the script on the whole, it did lose focus later and stretches credibility where things happen too much by chance and where things turn around too abruptly with no real warning. More could have been done to make the lead character more rootable, Williams plays him very well but the character himself can be on the obnoxious side.

In conclusion, pretty good. 7/10.

Excellent 'B' noir - from the memorable opening sequence of a close-up of a sleeping man's face, with a couple of hands entering the frame to strangle him, to the exciting train-ride climax, which curiously anticipates the director's own THE NARROW MARGIN (1952) - with a topical, Hitchcockian plot of an amnesiac war veteran, accused of treason and of being party to murder, who goes on the run to prove his innocence. Despite unknown leads (including Bill Williams and Barbara Hale, a married couple in real-life and the parents of BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: THE EARLY DAYS [1979] star William Katt, which I unwittingly watched the very same day, and future director Richard Quine!), it's very stylishly handled by an expert in the genre, with special care given to the hero's hallucinatory flashes of his harrowing experiences in a Japanese P.O.W. camp.

Richard Fleischer who would direct "Barabbas" "fantastic voyage" and "the Boston strangler,not exactly low budget efforts already proves with "clay pigeon" he was a great director from the start.One has sometimes the strange impression to watch a "Mandchurian candidate" in miniature .A nightmarish atmosphere ,a true film noir where trains and cars belt in the night,where an amnesic hero has to fight an unknown enemy .It's really a tour de force to pack so much action (and much of what happens works behind the scenes) in a very short flick (about an hour).The last scenes on the train were probably influenced by Hitchcock's "shadow of a doubt" .This little gem should not be missed.

I'm not sure if Bill Williams and Barbara Hale were married at the time The Clay Pigeon was being made. Certainly their chemistry was apparent and is the best thing about the film.

The film with barely an hour and a quarter running time did not have much time for plot development. Basically Bill Williams is a sailor who developed hysterical amnesia while in a POW camp in the Pacific. He comes out of a two year coma and learns he's to be tried for treason. He's been accused of selling out his fellow prisoners while in Japanese custody. Worse than that, he's accused of murdering one of his best friends while a POW.

For a guy just coming out of a coma, Williams is a pretty agile person though he does retrogress at times. He heads for the widow of the man he's supposed to have murdered who is Barbara Hale. She's real reluctant to help him, but later when someone tries to kill them both she becomes a willing accomplice.

Given the limited amount of characters in the film, there wasn't a terrible lot of suspense for me. In fact I figured out who was behind it about a third into the film, it was that obvious to the audience, but not to Williams. To be fair there were reasons why he wouldn't consider the possibility of what actually was going on.

It was also just too too coincidental that he happened to run into the chief nemesis of the POWs, a sergeant who is played by Richard Loo whom they find in LA's Chinatown.

The film had a lot of potential, it was a good idea, but it needed a far better script and direction.