Le visiteur nocturne

Jack Hawkins, Michael Medwin, George Cole, and Dennis Price star in "The Intruder," a British film from 1953.

Hawkins is Colonel Merton, who comes home one night and discovers one of his ex-NCOs Ginger (Medwin) burglarizing his house. He wants to help him, but Ginger runs off, believing Merton called the police.

Merton sets out to find him by calling on some of the old regiment. We don't really get Ginger's whole story until near the end, but Merton learns a few things about those who served under him.

Throughout the film goes from flashback to present day, as Ginger is shown as heroic. There was one striking flashback scene. Which shows Leonard Pirry (Price) a tank commander, abandoning his tank when it looks like it's about to be destroyed by the enemy.

It falls to Ginger and another man to see if the radio works, and when the tank is fired upon, Ginger drags his partner to safety. Pirry has always pretended he was injured, though Merton knows the truth.

There is another scene, a comedy one with Arthur Howard, that doesn't add much to the film. It seems to be there for some humor.

Another powerful scene concerns Ginger's return from the war.

I have a letter written by Tyrone Power while he was in London. It says that he is going to "chez Hawkins" for dinner. I think of that every time I see Jack Hawkins.

The colonel Jack Hawkins coming home surprises a burglar, who happens to be one of his former soldiers. He can't understand how such a good soldier could happen to a criminal course and can't just let the case slip away. He engages himself in the mystery of the fallen soldier, finds other soldiers of the same company, and gradually gets a thread or two with which to unravel the mystery. The mystery proves a tragedy, and the final sequences out in the country are heart-breaking in their revelations of sheer bad luck derailing into overwhelming misfortunes. There are many flashbacks, you get back into the war and some of its worst ordeals, you only catch faint traces of the soldier in question at first, but gradually your eyes are opened to his case. It's not a great film, but it's a great story, and it is well filmed, and definitely one of Jack Hawkins' best.

Retired Colonel Jack Hawkins is burgled by one of his old army troop so he investigates why this has happened by visiting his old troop members. Cue, lots of wartime flashbacks.

Competent but unremarkable fifties drama with the usual stiff upper lip performances, albeit Hawkins always has presence and Medwin is good as the one Hawkins is investigating.

Smartly blending thriller (a desperate ex- soldier who got a raw deal after WW2 becomes an ex-convict on the run) and war movie (scenes from the past of the characters of the story) ,"the intruder" ,although too over-the top melodrama ( Ginger 's fate when he comes back from war could be that of a character of Hugo's "le misérables" ) , is a gripping movie.

Mertin (Jack Hawkins ),the officer who goes back in the past ,begins more and more compassioning as the story unfolds .Nothing in the world is black and white, even in war when men are supposed to be heroes : Perry (superbly portrayed by Dennis Price ,for me the stand-out) acted like a coward and ,discharged ,he has become a well-respected man, smug , despising. On the other hand , there is a strong camaraderie between these brothers in arms which lingers when the war is over , a friendship even a little girl can feel ; little by little,the colonel will side with them .

Underrated film, starring Jack Hawkins - long one of my favourite actors. There are some great scenes, not least that at the farm when the Merton character appears with a container of water for his car, immediately defusing an awkward situation with his friend being interrogated by two detectives. Watch out for character actor Edward Chapman, in a nasty role as an abusing stepfather.