This is one of those Hammer B-Movie Noirs. The Studio made a Handful before it Hit Pay-Dirt and became the House of Horror. The Film-Noir Ingredients in this Darkly Lit and Narrated Story are Pure Pulp and Noir Gold. As Alec Nicol (Mark Kendricks) Pounds away at His Typewriter and Laments about Unpaid Bills and Writer's Bloc, it is the Stuff of Penny-A-Word Prose on Cheap Paper.
The Audience is Drawn into the World of High Class Blondes (Hillary Brooke) Married to Elderly Men whose "Two step has got a little slow.", and a Down on His Luck Sap, who Will Play One Every Time (except maybe Sam Spade).
The Tone of this Thing Rings the Noir Bell and it is Low-Budget, but that doesn't really Matter. This one has the Look and Feel of Reel Noir and it is one of the Better in the Series from the British Studio. It's got a Verbal Style, Nicol's Voice is Velvety and Desperate, and that is sure to Please Fans of the Genre.
Although Film-Noir was beginning to Lose its Edge by 1954, this is Virtually a Copy of the Style from the Forties and it's a welcome Trip Back from the Police Procedural to a more Up Close and Personal Downward Spiral with Fem-Fatales and Guys with Smoky Bourbon Breath.
The Audience is Drawn into the World of High Class Blondes (Hillary Brooke) Married to Elderly Men whose "Two step has got a little slow.", and a Down on His Luck Sap, who Will Play One Every Time (except maybe Sam Spade).
The Tone of this Thing Rings the Noir Bell and it is Low-Budget, but that doesn't really Matter. This one has the Look and Feel of Reel Noir and it is one of the Better in the Series from the British Studio. It's got a Verbal Style, Nicol's Voice is Velvety and Desperate, and that is sure to Please Fans of the Genre.
Although Film-Noir was beginning to Lose its Edge by 1954, this is Virtually a Copy of the Style from the Forties and it's a welcome Trip Back from the Police Procedural to a more Up Close and Personal Downward Spiral with Fem-Fatales and Guys with Smoky Bourbon Breath.