Signes particuliers: néant

Original title: The Man Inside

1958
Approved
1h 37m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A jeweler's bookkeeper steals a gem and kills someone while escaping to Europe, where he lives luxuriously and chases women. A detective follows his trail, realizing others are hunting him t... Read allA jeweler's bookkeeper steals a gem and kills someone while escaping to Europe, where he lives luxuriously and chases women. A detective follows his trail, realizing others are hunting him too, suggesting a deeper mystery.A jeweler's bookkeeper steals a gem and kills someone while escaping to Europe, where he lives luxuriously and chases women. A detective follows his trail, realizing others are hunting him too, suggesting a deeper mystery.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.9/10

363

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

User reviews15

Featured review

7/10

Interesting multiple Euro location noir, superb Patrick

I have never heard of Director John Gilling - and with good reason! At least on IMDB, his work does not get much by way of high ratings.

That said, he had a hand in THE MAN INSIDE's script, and it ain't half bad. Clearly, despite scenes in Lisbon (I would contend that it is really a run down part of Madrid, the locals even speak castillian, not Portuguese, irrespective of the obligatory "obrigado"), Madrid, Paris and London, this has the look of a low budget flick.

The action is entertaining enough, with some zesty moments but cinematography by - to me unknown - Ted Moore is generally dark, mostly inside trains, and not overly memorable.

Nigel Patrick stands out as Sam Carter, who insists on being addressed as Carrasco (meaning "executioner" in both Portuguese and Spanish) . He reminded me of Mr Holland in THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (UK 1951), memorably played by Alec Guinness, but with a far colder and more evil drive, to the point of actually icing two or three people along the way, all for the sake of holding on to a priceless diamond.

I agree with other reviewers that Jack Palance seems miscast. I would have loved to see Joel McCrea in his role as March. Anita Ekberg's posterior alone is worth the price of admission, and seeing her whole must have been a massive boner... hmm, bonus, to many a young male spectator at the time.

Bonar Colleano makes a credible, sophisticated heavy with stylish glasses to boot.

Sid James with a US accent and Newley as a Spaniard miss the mark, though, despite the latter's quick thinking - his English is just too good to come across as a convincing Spaniard.

All told, watching this 90-minute flick is no waste of time. 7/10.

Trivia
This was Bonar Colleano's final film before he was killed in a car accident on August 18, 1958 at the age of 34, three weeks before the film was released.

Goofs
When Sam Carter takes delivery of his forged Spanish passport he runs through the attributes it lists - eye colour blue, hair colour fair, height 5 feet 11 and a half inches and so on. However, Spain adopted the metric system in 1849, so his height would have been given in metres/centimetres.

Quotes
Robert Stone: Without any warning at all, the door closed on me. I shouted and finally...
Milo March: You say you've known him for a long time?
Robert Stone: Yes, he's been doing our books for fifteen years at least. The quietest, nicest fellow you could meet. He came here about once in two weeks. Carter and I used to look at the stone together. We used to stand here, just looking.
Franklin: Hand in hand?
Robert Stone: Mr. March, you know anything about diamonds?
Milo March: Yeah, I know I can't afford them.
Robert Stone: Then let me ask you; have you ever seen something that became an obsession, something you simply had to possess?
Milo March: Aha. But she ran away with a Texas oil man.
Robert Stone: Well, Carter in a sense, eloped with the diamond. I don't condone him stealing it, mind you. But I can understand why he did it. He took it because he fell in love with it.
Franklin: It's like stealing another man's wife.
Milo March: Oh, come on now. What can a diamond do for you on a cold night?
Robert Stone: If you're lucky enough to find The Tyrahna Blue, you'll know what I mean. You see, Mr. March, every man is actually two men: the one the world sees, the other the man inside.
Milo March: You think that I'll steal it?
Robert Stone: [chuckles] No, course not, Mr March. But the idea may cross your mind. A diamond like The Tyrahna Blue is like a beautiful woman - irresistible. A fire with passion.