THE SURGEON'S KNIFE
(1957, directed by Gordon Parry, 5*)
If the first part is too episodic, then the second offers more sustained drama, an exciting if improbable climax.
The surgeon is Dr Waring (played by Donald Houston and no connection with Richard Gordon's comedy hero), ambitious, but vulnerable when an old colleague Dr Hearne (Sidney Tafler) blackmails him over an incident when Waring had been drunk in the operating theatre and caused the death of his patient. However Hearne is down on his uppers and dies. Another ex-colleague, young Laura Shelton (Adrienne Corri) has come into money. Alex Waring marries her. A third witness at the operation is a formidable matron, "a memory like a tape recorder," her we see being pushed off a roof, "it was ghastly."
Laura is his next target as their relationship deteriorates. She confides her fears to Ian (Lyndon Brook), Alex's junior partner. They call in a retired police inspector (John Welsh) who uncovers the truth but as he has insufficient proof, the only way to catch him, you've guessed, is to get Laura to place herself in danger, alone with Him. Inevitably the policeman can't seem to break down the vital door to rescue her...
"He was insane," the surgeon that is, the sad sight of a man who saved lives while disposing of any who stood in his way
Perhaps the best done scene is that with the doctor's mother and father (Beatrice Varley and Mervyn Johns) as the policeman talks to them about their son's blighted youth
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Film Reviews-
of a few British films
LIMELIGHT (1935, directed by Herbert Wilcox, Imperial Studios Boreham Wood, 4*)- difficult to assess this film fairly from a surviving print that has been hacked about, but this is typical showbiz backstage fantasy, Bob a street singer (Arthur Tracey) is whisked off the street by chorus girl Marge (Anna Neagle) to save the opening night of a show. Afterwards, he disappears into the night, catching a no 38 bus with Marge. Cocktails with Lady Madeleine nearly ruin his second night though a slap from Marge sobers him up. Once Bob's a star Marge thinks he's ditched her for Lady M's rich daughter, but encouraged by a bon mot from Jack Buchanan (see picture), who even sings a snatch of Goodnight Vienna, she does her best to make the most of her big break... singing Bob's song! This threatens to go wrong until unexpectedly he joins her on stage for a heartwarming finale. Some memorable music helps the film along, visually the first run of Whistling Waltz is pleasing even if lacking any Busby-type fireworks, while the jolly Celebratin' is the catchiest tune
INQUEST (1939, directed by Roy Boulting, Highbury Studios, 5*)- Intriguing opening when a hidden gun in discovered in a roof. Thomas Hamilton had died in this house last year, and now his wife Margaret (Elizabeth Allan) "is so terribly worried," and with good reason, for it was she who had bought the gun, and well studied village gossip is accusing her of murder. Centrepiece of the film is the inquest, presided over by the weak coroner (Herbert Lomas) who has decided Margaret is guilty, not that she's entirely innocent in her relationship with Richard (Philip Friend). Her defending counsel (Hay Petrie) ruffles the coroner even out Perry Masoning that great lawyer, exposing the real murderer after a heavy welter of interrogation. A neat solution, though after the initial poetic scenes of an idyllic rural life just before the war, the film suffers somewhat from a too heavy reliance on dialogue
THE HEART WITHIN (1958, directed by David Eady, Twickenham Studios, 5*)- Joe, a crooked immigrant in London, is shot after a row over Violet with honest but poor Victor (Earl Cameron). The premise of the film is Victor's belief that "a coloured man is guilty until he's proved innocent," though young Danny (David Hemmings) and his grandfather (James Hayter) show enough faith in him to give him shelter and prove his innocence by exposing the narcotics racket behind the killing. Danny winds up in the clutches of the killer as the film discards its racial overtones in favour of a more conventional crime thriller, and though the Caribbean music is certainly different, I found it wearing. In a novel conclusion, Victor rescues Danny
THE PAINTED SMILE- (1961, Shepperton Studios, directed by Lance Comfort, 4*) -
Mark (Peter Reynolds) and Jo (Liz Fraser) run a blackmail racket: she picks up a likely man, this time student Tom at a club. But Mark has been knifed, Tom won't be seduced, instead he helps her dispose of the corpse in his car. Not a good idea as he's half drunk. Tom's two pals and his fiancee Mary help trace the killer, the man with the inevitable limp, the sinister Limey, not too tough a task as he's after Tom too. At one point this film is more akin to Room at the Top, but mostly it's a 50s crime chase with 60s music. "We're going to look after you," Limey promises Tom and Jo once he's got them, "you've just got to disappear." Motivation not clear, but there's always the catchy theme song to enjoy, sung by Craig Douglas
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Tempean Films
Robert S Baker and Monty Berman produced the best British crime thrillers in the 1950s. Here I review one of their fine film noirs each month.
TIGER BY THE TAIL
(1955, directed by John Gilling, Nettlefold Studios, 7*)
Journalist John Desmond (Larry Parks) picks up Anna (Lisa Daniely) in a club and is soon besotted. But after a row over her diary he accidentally shoots her. This diary holds a cypher which lands John and his secretary Jane (Constance Smith) in deeper waters, and that's what this film is so good at showing, John sucked into an unfathomable mystery surrounding Anna's secret life of which so little seems to be discoverable.
The code book is wanted back by the gang of counterfeiters, they kidnap John but after tough questioning he escapes. Hiding in a loonybin is a smart move, and here he starts to crack the code. However the crooks are smarter, pose as doctors and get John transferred to a private clinic. With Jane also captured things look very black.
This brings us back to the magnificent atmospheric opening which certainly impressed me at the time, showing John staggering down an ill lit street, wounded, the very essence of film noir. He totters against a dark building and collapses
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FIVE HAVE A MYSTERY TO SOLVE
(1964, director: Ernest Morris, Rayant Studios Bushey)
Each month- a review of one part of this Children's Film Foundation serial
Part 1 Whispering Island
Along an idyllic country lane cycle the Five, or rather Four plus Timmy the dog, to stay at the cottage of Mrs Layman. Also in her home is young Wilfred, a loner who has a strong rapport with animals.
But Wilfred is none too friendly, ordering the Five out, holding a snake to back up his threat. But Julian takes control and the children almost become friends with Wilfred, who even shows them some of his friends like a badger and a squirrel. But when Timmy barks loudly, that makes Wilfred cross. George won't stand for that and Wilfred unpleasantly retorts by claiming the dog likes him better than her.
Then Ann gets scared by one of Wilfred's "creepy crawlies," a toad. But she gets her own back by dousing him with a bucket of water. That however swells his admiration for her!
Cleaning lady Sally tells Ann about Whispering Island and its alleged buried treasure. Living on the isle is Sir Hugo but "noone's allowed to set foot on the place." But it's a nature reserve and Wilfred decides to row there, in Mrs Layman's boat, taking Timmy for company. But once there, two men chase after him.
"Can Wilfred escape?" My review of part two is next month
The serial contains the same motifs as the earlier Famous Five Film, in the island and the treasure, though in this story the Famous Five are all a little older, and this opening is less dramatic than the earlier serial
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Puzzle Picture No.13
Can you identify the artist from the clues below?
The less clues you need before you look up the answer, the higher your Dinosaur Film rating!
Click here when you want to find out his identity.
Born December 29th 1899 in Scotland
Began his professional stage career in 1930 after ten years on the amateur stage
He died in 1976
His final screen roles were mostly on tv, his last big screen part was in Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972)
His first screen part was in 1931 in A Honeymoon Adventure
Typical role- Hector in The Bridal Path (1959)
Rather different role- a policeman in The Shakedown (1960)
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It's
Jack Lambert
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Dinosaur British Films -
February 2012 Magazine
