The Man in Black

This is a chamber drama of a family, as a rich dying father leaves everything to his only daughter, who is beset by her stepmother and her daughter (who then isn't even her half-sister), who of course are interested in the inheritance, as the father only leaves them morsels. The intrigue is how they will go about it, and their method is very similar to that of "Gaslight". There is an old servant of the manor, usuallly drunk, however, whom they don't bother to count with, which is their mistake. They don't get any help either from the opportunist wooer, who thinks it will be easy to marry the heiress for her money, even though he accidentally succeeds in killing the old drunk. The whole thing gets increasingly messed up, and the greedy ladies gradually lose control of what is happening. But it is a very intelligent intrigue, all the absurd turnings of the tale are quite logical when you analyse them, but it could have been made a so much better film. As it is, it is too much condensed, which makes it superficial. A man like Hitchcock would have been needed to film a drama like this, he wouldn't have missed the opportunity for suspense and surprise, but taken better care of the vital crucial moments.

This British film begins with learning that Mr. Clavering (Sidney James) is a follower of Eastern mysticism and is married to a horrid second wife, Bertha. He knows he's dying and decides to try out a particularly difficult and dangerous stunt...to put himself into a death-like trance. He demands absolute silence...claiming it could be fatal if anyone makes any noise. During this exhibition, a painting falls off the wall...and Clavering appears to actually be dead!

When the will is read, the bulk of the estate is to be given to Clavering's daughter from his first marriage, Joan. However, Bertha and her viper-like daughter are allowed to stay in the house and the will stipulates that Bertha is to advise and oversee Joan until she reaches 21. Bertha instead decides her best route is to instead try to drive Joan mad and take the fortune for herself! To do so, she begins 'gaslighting' Joan. In other words, acts as if things are just fine and gets Joan to doubt her own sanity. To assist, is a particularly vicious thug, Victor. So what's next? See the film.

I give this film kudos for being darned clever. The script is very well written--with nice unexpected twists, a terrific ending and wonderful dialog. All in all, a nice little suspense film that manages to offer a few genuine surprises.

Based on the extremely popular BBC radio series from the thirties and forties, The Man in Black played by famously spooky voiced Valentine Dyall introduces the story. Yogi follower Sid James dies in his country pile leaving his fortune to his daughter. His wife looks for ways of disinheriting her through having her committed or worse.

Whilst you can quite easily see roughly what is going on here right from the start and it is all a bit twin set and pearls, there is much to enjoy here and a number of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It's an early Hammer film and its radio origins do rather betray it, but it makes for a pleasant hour and a half and nice to Sid James in a straight role for once.

Great old-school psychological thriller. The story has some nice twists and turns, as well as some plot elements that are familiar, even for the time. It's a fun watch and the three leading ladies carry the show.

Sid James --in a serious role -- is a rich man who practices yoga. Before a demonstration in which he simulates being dead, he warns that anyone who speaks could kill him dead. His second wife, Betty Ann Davies, makes sure of that. She is disappointed when a quarter of a million pounds is left to his daughter from his first wife, Hazel Penwarden. There's good news, though. If she goes mad before her 21st birthday, the bequest is cut to a fifth of that, Betty Ann picks it up and gets management of that. So Miss Davies and her daughter from a previous marriage, Sheila Burrell, plot to gaslight her, with the help of money-hungry Anthony Forwood.

Nice people. Miss Penwarden seems quite wacky, alternating terror with cheerfulness as people keep dying, and she has conversations with them after they become corpses. I won't say the outcome is a surprise, but it's done with such roguish black humor, that I enjoyed it.

It's based on Valentine Dyall's hit BBC radio show of the same name, and Mr. Dyall is on hand to introduce us to the people involved. At the time, Hammer Pictures, under the "Exclusive Films" distribution marque, offered several movies based on currently popular radio shows, including DICK BARTON, DETECTIVE, MEET SIMON CHERRY, and THE ADVENTURES OF P.C. 49. None lasted more than a couple of movies.