Talking to my dad about what he has watched over the Christmas period, I was intrigued to learn about a Film Noir directed by Terence Fisher being on Talking Pictures free online catch-up service. Discovering the title was soon going to leave the site,I got set to meet the proxy.
View on the film:
Revealed in the excellent book Terence Fisher: Master of Gothic Cinema by Tony Dalton that just before the 5 weeks of filming, extensions had been done at Bray Studios, which allowed for lighting to now hang from the ceiling when shooting.
Taking full advantage of this new creative ceiling, directing auteur Terence Fisher & The House in Marsh Road (1960-also reviewed) cinematographer Walter J. Harvey (and future regular Fisher collaborator Jimmy Sangster working here as assistant director) mark a smoke covered Film Noir atmosphere with stylish push-ins on Morrow, jagged first-person panning shots displaying the new wider location Hammer had on offer at Bray, and soft-focus close-ups on Morrow's dream Femme Fatale Brunner.
Waking up from being blackout drunk to a hangover of being framed for murder, (who made unwanted advances towards the much younger Lee during filming) Dane Clark gives a great performance as Morrow, who Clark has rush in a robust manner to clear his name, while having a Film Noir loner black mark, over doubts of what took place during his blackout.
Tragically just one of a few credits she made before dying in a car crash at just age 25, Belinda Lee gives an excellent performance in her first lead role as Phyllis, thanks to Lee binding a youthful nativity, with a Femme Fatale ambiguity which keeps Morrow on his toes.
Released just a few years before Hammer Horror would begin, Richard H. Landau adapts Helen Nielsen's novel by spinning the Film Noir's Hammer had been producing, to point towards the run of psycho Thriller's that the studio would be making at the same time as their Gothic creations, via each fragment Morrow finds from his blackout, bringing into focus the "Mummy issues" ( a recurring major theme in Hammer Thrillers) that cloud the Phyllis family home, as Morrow finds the proxy.
View on the film:
Revealed in the excellent book Terence Fisher: Master of Gothic Cinema by Tony Dalton that just before the 5 weeks of filming, extensions had been done at Bray Studios, which allowed for lighting to now hang from the ceiling when shooting.
Taking full advantage of this new creative ceiling, directing auteur Terence Fisher & The House in Marsh Road (1960-also reviewed) cinematographer Walter J. Harvey (and future regular Fisher collaborator Jimmy Sangster working here as assistant director) mark a smoke covered Film Noir atmosphere with stylish push-ins on Morrow, jagged first-person panning shots displaying the new wider location Hammer had on offer at Bray, and soft-focus close-ups on Morrow's dream Femme Fatale Brunner.
Waking up from being blackout drunk to a hangover of being framed for murder, (who made unwanted advances towards the much younger Lee during filming) Dane Clark gives a great performance as Morrow, who Clark has rush in a robust manner to clear his name, while having a Film Noir loner black mark, over doubts of what took place during his blackout.
Tragically just one of a few credits she made before dying in a car crash at just age 25, Belinda Lee gives an excellent performance in her first lead role as Phyllis, thanks to Lee binding a youthful nativity, with a Femme Fatale ambiguity which keeps Morrow on his toes.
Released just a few years before Hammer Horror would begin, Richard H. Landau adapts Helen Nielsen's novel by spinning the Film Noir's Hammer had been producing, to point towards the run of psycho Thriller's that the studio would be making at the same time as their Gothic creations, via each fragment Morrow finds from his blackout, bringing into focus the "Mummy issues" ( a recurring major theme in Hammer Thrillers) that cloud the Phyllis family home, as Morrow finds the proxy.