The Spider and the Fly

The 'gentleman crook' and his ongoing battle of wits with a police detective has proved to be of immense appeal. Raffles had his Inspector Mackenzie, Lupin his Inspector Ganimard and Simon Templar his Inspector Teal. Here it is the mercurial Ledocq of Guy Rolfe versus the earthy Inspector Maubert of Eric Portman. Although on opposite sides of the law theirs is a very interesting relationship based on mutual admiration and is further complicated by their being rivals for the enigmatic Madeleine of Nadia Gray. However, a cruelly ironic twist of Fate thwarts them both.........

Films set in Europe featuring English actors seldom ring true but this is a glorious exception. Both Portman and Rolfe, whose career alas was hampered by tuberculosis, are first class. Excellent support from Edward Chapman and Maurice Denham. It is of course the lovely Miss Gray who supplies the exotic touch.

Based by writer Robert Westerby on a story related to him by a member of the French police, this film is atmospherically shot by Geoffrey Unsworth and marks an impressive editorial debut by Seth Holt.

Although no doubt considered a 'minor' work of Robert Hamer this is extremely entertaining. It typifies Hamer's flair, distinctive visual style and what one critic astutely called 'his bitter intelligence'.

A well cast and well paced police drama set in Paris just prior to WWI featuring Eric Portman as the professional and unemotional detective Fernand Maubert and his adversary the aristocratic gentleman thief and bank robber Philippe Lodocq played by the exceptionally tall Guy Rolfe. In some scenes I'm sure his lover, the demure Madeleine (Nadia Gray), is standing on something so as to kiss him. As the Hun approaches Paris, the French government tempts Philippe with a pardon and a wad of cash to do a little espionage. The film ends well with an unexpected twist. British film buffs should look out for a young George Cole (aka Arthur Daley)in the dual role as a trainee detective and actor. Also Arthur Lowe (Dad's Army) appears as a nervous town clerk. Note: This is not a film for those trying to quit smoking. In every scene every man smokes furiously and towards the end even the fair Madeleine lights up.

This is an unusual film from the highly-rated Robert Hamer containing two superb performances from Eric Portman and the statuesque Guy Rolfe. Rolfe is a revelation in that he is in no way overshadowed by Portman and his physical presence dominates his scenes. The script matches the performances and the locations, direction, lighting, and camera-work ensure is it wholly convincing throughout. Set in France just before and during the Great War, there are some truly tense and suspenseful scenes and the film holds you from start to finish. It is a picture which, because of its unusual atmosphere and setting, together with the performances and story-line, stays with you. The last two scenes are touching and beautifully played. Why more was not made of Guy Rolfe's talent and presence by giving him more prime roles in his career is a mystery to me. Try not to miss this one.

Robert Hamer's next film after 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' was this super-stylish precursor to the same director's 'Father Brown' five years later; which feels like an adaptation of a novel but was actually an original screenplay. Continuing his fascination with criminality and deception while studying the bond that develops between a gentleman thief and a detective against a French backdrop, in his tragically sparce career before he drank himself to death aged just 52 he also made two other films with French settings, one of them even called 'To Paris with Love'. It also anticipates 'The Dirty Dozen' and numerous other war films in it's proposition that criminals constitute a valuable resource in wartime.

In answer to an earlier correspondent, Guy Rolfe's career never really took off because health problems made him difficult to work with; although he fortunately enjoyed a late career resurgence in the 'Puppetmaster' series.

Robert Hamer was the great director of an episode of "Dead of night" and the famous "Kind heart and coronets". The problem is that "the spider and the fly" is real slow, not because of the script enough rich of strange situations and dialogues, but because of a total lack of actors direction, the three main actors are desperatly unexpressive. They are shot from far, and there's a puzzling scene in which two characters are turning back the camera, then the camera shoots too many long time the door when the character has already gone out. Eric Portman and Nadia Gray look really empty, and Guy Rolfe who has a terrific frightening face is too much shot from far, he would have needed close shots. What a pity because Guy Rolfe's character of some kind of Arsène Lupin is really interesting and the end is gripping.

The movie is located in France, mainly Paris, but also Versailles and in the end in Switzerland, I rekon some of the locations are real places in Paris or Versailles but there might be some studio scenes for the Café Michel we often see (serving the inevitable absinthe). Robert Hamer also directed Alec Guiness in 1955 in France in "To Paris with love", in colour on the Champs Elysées. There might be some other good surprises in Robert Hamer's filmography of only 14 movies.