Jack l'Éventreur

I wasn't intending on watching this film as it got a bad review in my TV guide. But when I saw John Le Mesurier (whom I most associate with the TV series "Dad's Army") becoming a prime suspect at the start of this Jack the Ripper themed whodunnit, then I just had to watch the rest.

The film basically uses the Jack the Ripper case as a excuse for a whodunnit. Jack's identity is pretty easy to guess (not enough suspects!), but the motive for the killings takes a bit longer to figure out.

The inclusion of an American policeman in the story does rather pander to an American audience, but it works quite well. I was cynically expecting him to solve the case before the London policeman and have a fight to the death with Jack at the the end of the film. But I was pleasantly surprised with the ending (it was vaguely reminiscent of the endings of a couple of Dario Argento's gialli).

Overall it's not a great film, but if you're into whodunnits then it's worth checking out.

Every once in a while one finds a film that is mostly mediocre but has one redeeming feature.

The bright spot of Jack the Ripper is it's beautiful lightning. Some B&W films are just gray when to me the beauty of it is in the strong contrast between light and shadow.

All in all this is a very easy film to like. It is beautifully naive in it's portrayal of it's sex murder topic yet at the same time it succeeds in making a powerful point about lynching mob attitude.

The characters are rather predictable and bland with one exception: the young American policeman visiting London. With his accent and idealism displayed under a greasy fifties Buddy Holly hairstyle (remember that this is a period piece set in the 19th century)he brings a nice cowboy twist to the legend of Jack the Ripper.

Considering an obviously small budget this film is well written and has an authentic "foggy Victorian look" about it,aided by a complimentary Stanley Black score.It's real merit is the fine character performances especially Euan Solon as a very autocratic hospital surgeon and it is also interesting to see John Le Mesurier far removed from his mild mannered Sargeant Wilson of Dad's Army.The East End/Whitechapel appears to be inhabited by an array of unsavoury characters from music hall impresarios,run of the mill pickpockets and aggressive vigilante thugs.

Still,the plot unwinds at a reasonable pace and the Lee Patterson/Betty McDowell romance doesn't interfere too much with the grizzly goings on in the streets.The final unmasking of Jack is quite unsettling in its brutality,but all the loose ends are nicely tied up with the realisation that due to circumstance(i.e. Jack the Ripper is killed) the true identity of the killer will always be known to the police but not the public.

Well worth a look if you like this genre of film.

In the 50s and 60s British film producers made 2 versions of their films.One the version that would be shown in UK cinemas and the other for more broadminded tastes the other side of the channel.So about half way through the film in the music hall the dancers have just finished the can can.They go back to their dressing room.They start talking in French ,with English subtitles,and all the dancers are undressed.This goes on for the next 5 minutes or so till the next murder.I have often pondered what happened to the continental versions and here some enterprising soul has cut the relevant scenes into the film.It certainly livens it up as it is not one of the better Ripper films,since it deals with it as a who dunnit.The final scenes with the lift though are the most effective part of the film.

There appear to be two versions of this film so beware. The colourised ending with the blood seeping out seems to have been done especially as a gimmick for the USA market.

In the UK version there is no colorised ending (it's all in black and white) and it also looks as if the ending has suffered from censor cuts.

Hopefully, one day we will see a DVD release with both endings included. All screenings in the UK (on TV) have been of the UK version with the black and white ending.

Those interested in this film may also care to check out A Study In Terror in which Sherlock Holmes tackles Jack the Ripper in a hammer forror-ish style.