Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

malcolmgsw The most interesting aspect of this lacklustre thriller are the views that it gives us of post war austerity London.This is a thriller without a thrill.For some bizarre reason we know the killer from the beginning.The reason for his murderous impulses arise from the fact that his grandfather was the public hangman in Victorian Times.To add to the character he is also a hummus boy.The actors do their best with the material but some of them are miscast.In particular Dulcie Grey and Derick Farr.I cannot remember a bus conductor talking as if he was fresh from a Mayfair nightclub.I can only assume that this film has such a high,overrated mark,due to the prescience of Portman and writing of Pressburger.

lucyrfisher 1946 - when women were still wearing that strange 40s aesthetic with huge, unflattering hair styles. See Colebrooke's secretary, who thinks he'll marry her one day when in fact he is planning to strangle her on Wimbledon Common. (Not a spoiler, we know he is the killer from the start.) I like Derek Farr, and the scene where he picks up Anne on a tube train that's broken down. Dulcie Gray must have been about 30, and I'm sorry, but she doesn't look as young as her character is meant to be (19 or so?). The scene at the fair is good, too, with the Punch and Judy man and the gramophone operator. It's nice to see Bonar Colleano as an American soldier and witness, and Kathleen Harrison is good as the Colebrookes' maid. Mrs Colebrooke, as another commenter said, gives us a glimpse of acting styles of the past (circa 1840). There are effective moments as Colebrooke's skinny, moustachio'd tail follows him along the river bank, and there is a splended scene as Inspector Conway overrules the jobsworth of jobsworths. Best moment, though, is when squads of coppers in old-fashioned helmets, and on horseback, descend on Hyde Park. Colebrooke attempts escape by boat and by water. High melodrama in the Serpentine is a challenge, but Eric Portman rises to it. It's all rather ludicrous, and not a patch on Canterbury Tale or Dear Murderer. Yes, there's much too much faffing about at Scotland Yard, and the intended humour just isn't funny, despite Stanley Holloway's efforts.The sound on this transfer is so bad that some of the dialogue is lost.

David (Handlinghandel) Don't be put off by the generic title. This is a film of subtlety and grace.Eric Portman is perfect as the troubled protagonist. Dulcie Gray enchants as the vulnerable yet strong-willed heroine. And the supporting cast is uniformly excellent.This is a variation on the Jack the Ripper theme. Someone is strangling young women, sending notes to Scotland Yard in advance. Ronald Culver is absolutely right as the chief inspector on the case.The psychology may be painted with slightly broad strokes. But the acting elevate that: The pain felt by all concerned is palpable. We do not admire the killer but we have understanding of the person's behavior. The victims and would-be victims are touching. And the attempts by secondary characters to help are persuasive and upsetting to us.

stills-6 It's all very nicely done. I had barely, if ever, heard of any of the leads in this movie before I saw it. I was expecting a sloppy film noir set in London, but it was a pleasant surprise when the dialogue and the players were as good as they are. The story is tight, mostly, and there is real tension and unexpected humor. Overall, it was very effective.I was particularly impressed with Eric Portman as Colebrooke. There was not much of a tradition playing sociopaths at this point in the movies. Of the few that had been portrayed, Cagney in "White Heat", for example, is much more histrionic and obvious than Portman is here.I might quibble with some plot points and some really heavy-handed staging, but really this is much like middle Hitchcock without all of the psychological mumbo-jumbo to push it along.