FeistyUpper
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
jfarms1956
The Man With A Cloak is a movie best enjoyed by baby boomers and for those who like a good mystery movie -- not really for children. The movie is best enjoyed on a rainy afternoon or very late at night. The movie has so many intertwining plots and sub plots that the real crux of the story is revealed at the very end. The real plot is not the story but the ending. You'll need to watch it at least twice to appreciate the movie. The first time through, you'll be caught up in the dialog plots. The second time through for clues for the final plot. I think Leslie Caron detracts from the movie and her part should have been for another actress who is less squeaky when she speaks. Wine and cheese would go well with this flick. I give it 4 thumbs up out of ten.
LeonLouisRicci
Not bad, but aside from the "surprise" last denouement, quite an unremarkable period piece. A heavy bit of Melodrama with some interesting Dialog exchanges. It all seems rather confined and is not as much gloomy as it is less roomy.Things are strung together with as much threading as necessary but it does seem to ramble a bit and is lesser for it. The suspense suffers as things can get a bit talky with much ado about drinking and fortunes.But it is Worth a Watch for its sums are better than the parts and it comes together nicely, if suddenly, and makes the experience worthwhile. There are some offbeat Characters and some nice interplay, but in the end it could have used more tension and less talk.
David_Brown
I am giving this film two stars, and the reason is that it wastes Barbara Stanwyck. I have seen a large number of her films, and she always stole the picture. People she appeared in films with? Gable, Cooper, Fonda, Bogart, Robinson, Wayne & Elvis (Yep she stole "Roustabout" from Elvis). I can go on, but the point is Stanwyck is dominated by an extremely boring Joseph Cotton as Edgar Allan Poe. Is it a bomb? No it is not, but it is not a Stanwyck Picture for Barbara fans. If you are not that familiar with Barbara's work start with "Ball Of Fire" & "Meet John Doe", this should be about the last film you watch of hers.
bob_gilmore1
While not in the top drawer of mystery films of the era, the film should come as a pleasant surprise for those interested in the period and definitely will register with films of the noir genre. The plot is difficult to sum up quickly but rest assured that it is literary and interesting, involves at least one or two good twists and sports a fine cast of players better known for work in more famous films. Joseph Cotten is particularly fine as the man of mystery who foils an attempt to rob the inheritance related to the demise of an old reprobate (Louis Calhern) in 1840's New York. Throw in Barbara Stanwyck at her most sultry and Leslie Carone at her most innocent and you have a film that does not exactly match the excitement generated by the opening scenes but holds one's attention nonetheless.
