L'assassin court toujours

Well I stayed and watched this film unfold. Charming period drama albeit a bit too clever and today such racial stereotypes would not be tolerated. However as it was 1951 we can forgive the essential prejudice that is necessary for the plot to remain plausible. I liked it and will watch again. A very fine film that has aged better than many. I liked the many actors in this that went on to become regular names in films and TV. Take bow all of you. It was an amazing watch and great twist at the very end that made me smile. A fine denouement. No idea why this bombed in the UK it was good enough and better than so much out there at the time. Do watch this. But park your sense of justice and go with out all.

John Mills plays Mr. Denning, who owns Denning Aircraft. Lately he has been distracted, bad tempered, sleepwalking, and drinking more than usual. He finally tells his wife (Phyllis Calvert) why.

When he went to confront his daughter's ne'er do well boyfriend Medos (Herbert Lom), he punches him - the man crashes his head on the fireplace and dies.

Panicked and afraid for repercussions for his daughter, Denning packs Medos' clothes, throws the body in his car, drives to a secluded location, fakes an accident, and hides the body nearby.

Time passes, but nothing is ever reported about the body. Normally, as it would decompose, this would be a good thing.

Alas, not in the obsessive hands of Denning, who manages, by his interference, to get his daughter's new boyfriend (Sam Wanamaker) involved.

One twist after another. If it had been brilliantly directed, it would have been better. As it was, it still was absorbing and entertaining.

At the end of the film, with the daughter talking so fast, I, who worked as a professional transcriber for years, couldn't understand what she said after repeated listenings. Ditto what she said to her father about Medos. Both of which I wanted to know. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

Is this Hitchcock incognito or the Hitch you have when not having Hitch? I'm not always a fan of Hitch but I could imagine him wishing he might have made this movie. Mr Denning certainly offers more than a fair share of suspense and visual challenges to keep the viewer intrigued, and just when it looks like it's all sorted it rolls backwards to challenge us over again. There's also a smart script by the original story writer Alec Coppel (Vertigo)

It offers nice touches, excitement, good performances (from a fine cast), and some stylish direction and cinematography to keep the mind and eye alert. Whether it ends quite right is up to your own thoughts, but it's so well done you can hardly mind. The new Netwerk transfer to DVD is most pleasing with sharp quality B/W and reasonably priced.

Probably the worst piloted film I've ever seen John mills actions made absolutely no sense

Perhaps it's in part because the acting is so fine - playing characters we like, yet in a very unsavory situation - this movie stays with me these 20 or so years since I saw it on television.

This is also one of the relatively few movies before the late 1950s that I can recall that really (purport to) go out into the British countryside: The Clouded Yellow is another example - and a similar style of movie to this (and also very good). Aside from these, I can think of only the Scottish scenes in The 39 Steps, I Know Where I'm Going, How Green Was My Valley, The Stars Look Down. (Suddenly in the late 1950s/1960s, British movies exploded out of London and went a-venturing - in such as This Sporting Life, Look Back in Anger, Tunes of Glory, A Kind of Loving, Room at the Top, Billy Liar, Whistle Down the Wind, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Becket, The Lion in Winter, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Tom Jones, Get Carter, Alfie).

Like The Clouded Yellow, this is the kind of movie patented by Hitchcock - filled with psychological suspense, fast moving plot, attractive actors, physical danger, significant looks, deception.

I've never seen a video or DVD available - but it's definitely worthwhile seeing it if you get the chance (perhaps on television).