Silent Dust

Silent Dust is a top British film, directed by Lance Comfort, starring Stephen Murray, Nigel Patrick, Sally Gray, Derek Farr, and Beatrice Campbell.

Murray plays a blind man, Robert Rawley, preparing to honor his dead soldier son Simon with a memorial which is to be unveiled soon. He receives a visit from Lord Clendon (Seymour Hicks) who suggests the memorial honors all the soldiers lost in the area. Rawley won't hear of it.

Because of his devotion to his son, his daughter-in-law Angela (Sally Gray) is nervous about telling him of her recent marriage to Maxwell (Derek Farr).

However, Simon (Nigel Patrick) is not dead, but a deserter who has become a con man and a murderer. He shows up at the house (a fabulous home) and blackmails Angela for money, spinning a tale of his miserable life since leaving the service. Flashbacks over his narration tell a different story. His stepmother sees him as well; she and Angela decide Rawley must not know.

But Rawley knows something isn't right in the house - Angela's gasp didn't sound like she twisted her ankle; he doesn't understand the whistling (Angela's signal that the coast is clear); someone drank and moved a liquor bottle. He quietly puts two and two together.

Excellent film with a strong performance by Patrick, who was about 10-15 years too old for the role. In reality he was the same age as Rawley, whose hair was whitened.

A note about the flashback nightclub scene. The singer, Maria Var, had a freak soprano voice along the lines of Yma Sumac, a triple coloratura. She appeared in only one other film, and I could not learn anything about her. The woman had high notes only a dog could hear.

Some trivia: A few years later, Nigel Patrick married Beatrice Campbell, who played his stepmother.

Blind, wealthy Stephen Murray (Robert Rawley) is disciplined and very matter-of-fact. He is wealthy and is the head figure of a country estate. He is organizing a memorial to his son (who was shot dead during WW2) to be unveiled when he is visited by Seymour Hicks (Lord Clandon). Hicks plays a far more sympathetic character and asks Murray to dedicate the memorial to all of the 50 or so villagers who never came back from the war, not just to his son. Murray refuses. At this point, we don't like Murray. One night, Nigel Patrick (Simon Rawley) shows up. Yep - he's the son.....and he's not been killed. He has quietly sneaked back to ask for money to make his escape as an army deserter. He hides in the house and the cast gradually become aware of his presence until he has a confrontation with his dad at the end, for which there can only be one outcome.

Stephen Murray and Nigel Patrick are the standout characters in the film. They are unpleasant people who I find quite likable, and this is due to the way that they deliver their dialogue. Blind Stephen Murray becomes more sympathetic as the film progresses as he stumbles across various anomalies in the household that he runs. Nigel Patrick is great as a lying 'spiv' - his recounting of his life story when he was supposedly on the run is very effectively told against a flashback of what actually happened - a great contrast.

I wasn't sure where the film was going for the first quarter of an hour or so, and was dreading that I had purchased a British comedy because of the comedy music used to accompany Seymour Hicks on his bicycle. Thankfully not. Things pick up with the arrival of Nigel Patrick and its a joy to watch from then on. I do wonder why they pick women that look the same - schoolboy error in the casting department - Sally Carr (Angela) and Beatrice Campbell (Joan) are thoroughly interchangeable. The best female role goes to the housekeeper Yvonne Owen (Nellie).

Overall, some great scenes, some good dialogue and a film worth seeing again.

Another great performance by Nigel Patrick is the highlight of this Post-war British 'Spiv' movie (British crime films with roots in the Hollywood gangster cycle of the 30s, but with far less glamorisation of the criminal protagonists - see also DANCING WITH CRIME, NO WAY BACK and NOOSE, with the latter similarly boasting a superior Nigel Patrick 'Spiv' performance). In this one he plays Simon Rawley, the son of a blind self-made country squire who, believed dead and due to be publicly honoured in a grand memorial service by his doting father, fetches up one night at the family home and is revealed to be a cowardly deserter now plying his trade as a criminal. Rawley demands money, initially to go away but subsequently, upon discovering that his wife has found love in the arms of the doctor son of the neighboring Lord of the manor, seizes the opportunity for blackmail. With his stepmother and wife attempting to keep his return secret from his unknowing father, and with the local police searching the countryside for him (he has earlier assaulted a motorist and stolen the man's car), the scene is set for a tense and unlikely family reunion. Directed by the prolific Lance Comfort, this is a tightly knit, sprightly told crime story, whose limited cast and chamber-piece dynamic tightens and heightens the mounting drama. Well-shot and staged, and featuring occasional moments of intentional humour (especially when Rawley's elaborate and fraudulent explanation for his desertion and absence is juxtaposed with images of his real activities and criminal subterfuge), the film also manages to document some interesting historical class distinctions between the moneyed nouveau-riche Rawley senior and his neighbouring Lordship as it zips its way to a satisfying (if somewhat implausible) climax. Entertaining stuff, and well worth seeking out.

Prior reviewers have made very good points, so my view of the film isn't needed, but I do wish to echo admiration for the cast, tight production, fine musical score, sharp dialogue. Particularly pleasing is the wind-up scene at the end, where the legendary Seymour Hicks (please see his bio!!) gently insinuates a satisfactory way to deal with the events fallout (I don't want to give away the ending). Hicks keeps his head, thinking ahead. when the others are understandably off balance, and gives them an out. This was Hicks' last film.

Interesting to note that a couple of years after this film was made, Nigel Patrick married his stepmother in this script, Beatrice Campbell. Another fun fact is that Patrick was born in 1912, the same year Stephen Murray (who plays his father here) was born, but Murray acquires white hair for the movie, and the superb acting carries it all off.

Quiet, steady character development, but no dull spots as this story unfolds well-paced, and gains tension. Well done.

"Silent Dust" is another brilliant noir directed by Lance Comfort about a soldier who died in WWII but comes back secretly in the family's manor house because in fact he was a deserter, Patrick Nigel is great as always playing that soldier. My favorite character is the blind father, all the scenes with him and Nigel are full of suspense and tension and enlightened with impressively sharp expressionist photography. And gripping musiac score by George Auric. I just can't wait to see another Lance Comfort, "Temptation Harbor" with the beautiful Simone Simon and Robert Newton for example?