The Limping Man

The Limping Man is one of a large number of competent British mysteries made in the '50's and featuring American actors in leading roles. In this one, it's Lloyd Bridges who stars. He is always credible and enjoyable to watch, but, in this feature, has too little to do. He is cast as an American who returns to London many years after the war to see his old girlfriend. Once there, a man standing next to him on the tarmac is gunned down by a sniper. He soon learns that there is a connection between the victim and his girlfriend. A web of intrigue unevenly unfolds. While the film does not fall into any predictable pattern of clichés, neither does it fit neatly together into the satisfying structure one expects of a good taut British mystery. Moira Lister lacks the appeal necessary to make the part of the girlfriend interesting, and she just doesn't click with Bridges. Helene Cordet as a decorative French entertainer also leaves one cold. (More interesting, though, in a bit part, is a young Jean Marsh.) All in all, it's middling double-feature fare, but well worth seeing if you like the genre.

In a parody of "The Famous Writers' School" a teacher recommends that no matter what corner you have painted yourself into, literarily, you can always end it with "then I got run over by a truck." In this film the audience is run over by a truck. It takes a nicely orchestrated set of events and cheapens them badly. This is the tale of a man who finds himself in the middle of some intrigue and blackmail. There are nice plot twists all along the way, especially involving the female protagonist who has gotten herself in some big time trouble. Lloyd Bridges is sort of along for the ride. We keep waiting for him to be more than an observer, but he never rises above that. Still I was involved until the moronic ending.

The Limping Man is a fairly bland British B grade Noir with Lloyd Bridges imported from America to play the lead role and add appeal to a wider audience. The plot follows a reasonably intriguing path towards what should/could have been a dramatic conclusion before reaching a disappointing ending that might have been borrowed from a children's story. Despite this, the film has its moments with fine performances from Bridges and Alan Wheatley as the Inspector. Leslie Phillips appears as the inspector's subordinate and, as always, is typecast as the ladies man who ogles everything in a dress.

Although the ending is flawed the film still has appeal as an interesting example of British Film Noir.

Convoluted murder mystery. So who shot Kendall Brown from a distance as he was exiting a London airport. It wasn't Frank Prior (Bridges) who gets involved through happenstance, which wouldn't have happened if girlfriend Pauline (Lister) had met him at the airport as she was supposed to. Then there's singer Helene (Cordet) who's also implicated, that is, when she's not performing in a magic act. Anyhow, Scotland Yard's on the case, so the limping culprit better watch out. At least that's the way things appear.

Bridges fans like myself may be disappointed since his role is clearly secondary to Lister's and somewhat incidental to the plot. It may be that director Endfield did him an employment favor since both were targets of the Hollywood blacklist. After all, they had worked together brilliantly on the gripping Sound Of Fury (1950). There're a number of nice touches. I especially chuckled over the randy young police inspector (Phillips) when he trades meaningful looks with the busty landlady's daughter (Marsh). It's amusingly done. Also, the magician's act is novel accompaniment to Helene's singing. Too bad, however, we don't get a better look at the effects that pass by unhighlighted.

I'm guessing the bummer ending was because the plot's complexity made tying up all the loose ends darn difficult. Anyway, it's a pretty good time passer, ending or no, with a number of entertaining touches.

This is a kind of "B" picture but it has a good cast and the story is intriguing enough. It stars Lloyd Bridges and Moira Lister, two good actors. An assassination happens as Frank Prior (Bridges) gets off a plane in London, where he is to see Pauline French (Lister) for the first time in six years, since the war. The person who was assassinated, Kendall Brown, is known to Pauline French and Scotland Yard is on the case. Frank tries to help French in trying to find out how she in involved. The Limping Man of the title is a shadowy figure, which is why I'm calling this a noir film. Its pretty good, but the ending, which I won't divulge, is strange. Its fun to watch up till then and, at 75 minutes, goes by quickly. Obviously not perfect, its good Saturday afternoon watching.