Four Sided Triangle (1953)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Terence Fisher (screenplay)
Paul Tabori (adaptation)

Release Date:

15 June 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

She lived two amazing lives under his spell!

Plot:

Bill and Robin, helped by their childhood friend, Lena, develop a "reproducer" which can exactly duplicate any object...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel

Cast

Barbara Payton	...	Lena / Helen
James Hayter	...	Dr. Harvey
Stephen Murray	...	Bill
John Van Eyssen	...	Robin
Percy Marmont	...	Sir Walter
Jennifer Dearman	...	Lena as a Child
Glyn Dearman	...	Bill as a Child
Sean Barrett	...	Robin as a Child
Kynaston Reeves	...	Lord Grant
John Stuart	...	Solicitor
Edith Saville	...	Lady Grant

Also Known As:

The Monster and the Woman

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16055)

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Quotes:

Lena: An empty mind... and a new beginning!

Guy loses girl...twice!

Hey, guys! Did you and your buddy ever chase after the same girl, and lose the girl to your buddy? Sure, we all have. How many of you went out and tried to find a girl *just* like the one you lost? Okay, most of us are still here. Now, how many of you actually went out and tried to reproduce the girl of your dreams? Nope, me neither.

Robin and Bill are buddy mad scientists who are both childhood friends with Lena. Robin & Bill develop a device which makes an exact duplicate of whatever you put into the machine. The amount of energy required to change energy to matter, let alone the ability to exactly order that energy into anything useful, is beyond comprehension or reason. However, it does pose an interesting thought experiment about the nature of identity and what makes one unique in God's universe.

Helen is tortured because she realizes not only does she not have her own identity, but that the man she loves is loved by her "twin". Her world-view is the same as Lena's was before she married Robin. Helen is depressed to the point of suicide realizing that she can never be anything but a shadow of Lena. Bill is miserable because he has lost the girl of his dreams twice to the same man. His cowardace in love contrasts sharply to the point of curiousity with his impetuous, heart-on-his sleeve emotions in other aspects of his life.

The ending gets a demerit because of the need to dress them exactly for the first time in order to build a dramatic conclusion for the audience. Considering that the barn fire claims either Lena or Helen, a more dramatic ending would have had the survivor wrapped in a blanket, and the eventual hospital scene played out there. The emotion of the discovery of the survivor against the burning fire would dovetail nicely. However, this is nitpicking in an otherwise great movie.

Sterno says pull Euclid out of geometry class to watch Four Sided Triangle.