Chance Meeting (1959)
"Blind Date" (original title)

Dutch painter Jan-Van Rooyer hurries to keep a rendezvous with Jacquleine Cousteau, an elegant, sophisticated Frenchwoman, slightly his elder, whose relationship with him had turned from ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Ben Barzman, Leigh Howard (novel),

Stars:

Hardy Krüger, Stanley Baker, Micheline Presle

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hardy Krüger	...	Jan-Van Rooyer
Stanley Baker	...	Insp. Morgan
Micheline Presle	...	Jacqueline Cousteau
John Van Eyssen	...	Insp. Westover
Gordon Jackson	...	Sergeant
Robert Flemyng	...	Sir Brian Lewis
Jack MacGowran	...	Postman
Redmond Phillips	...	Police doctor
George Roubicek	...	Police constable
Lee Montague	...	Sgt. Farrow

Storyline

Dutch painter Jan-Van Rooyer hurries to keep a rendezvous with Jacquleine Cousteau, an elegant, sophisticated Frenchwoman, slightly his elder, whose relationship with him had turned from art student into one of love trysts. He arrives and is confronted by Detective Police Inspector Morgan who accuses him of having murdered Jacqueline. Morgan listens sceptically to the dazed denials of Van-Rooyen as he tells the story of his relationship with the murdered woman. Morgan, after hearing the story, realizes that the mystery has deepened and it becomes more complicated when the Assistant Commissioner, Sir Brian Lewis, explains that Jacqueline was not married but was being kept by Sir Howard Fenton, a high-ranking diplomat whose names must be kept out of the case.

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Plot Keywords:

lingerie slip | sergeant | murder | british noir | based on novel

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Taglines:

A motion picture brilliantly, mysteriously different... as man is to woman!

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller | Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chance Meeting

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield Studios, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sydney Box Associates, Independent Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Chance Meeting"
Music by William Katz
Lyrics by Ruth Roberts

User Reviews

Laura and class struggle.

At first sight ,"Blind date" recalls some Agatha Christie play.Only three characters are really important and they all have. a different nationality:Baker is English,Krüger is German (Dutch in the movie!) and Micheline Presles is French.People who know Preminger's "Laura" cannot help but be struck by the way Presles's character is used.

But the essentials are somewhere else.Losey had always been fascinated by the social status,particularly the upper classes' decay:to name but three ,"the servant" ,"the gypsy and the gentleman" and "the go-between" were blatant examples.Here prole Kruger would be an ideal culprit,he who only owns one suit,thus a good way of avoiding scandal.Presles and her husband are the posh people at the top,but they are about to fall in their mire.

That said,Losey's directing is a bit static,and looks like some filmed stage production.The jaunty first and last pictures seem irrelevant.