Tough little suspense/ thriller from M-G-M, a near reworking of Alfred Hitchcock’s SPELLBOUND/’45 (and SPELLBOUND could use some reworking!), it works pretty well until falling apart in the third act. (A too convenient drunk and a drug-induced confession needed to move the plot along.) At first, violent, brain-injured vet Robert Taylor is certain he murdered his wife, then blacked out. But after successful surgery relieves the pressure on his brain, he’s not so sure. Audrey Totter, his sanatorium psychiatrist, slowly comes to believe him. Or is she just falling for the guy? Nope, turns out Herbert Marshall’s the actual killer. The wife had been his secretary (and then some!) and now Marshall’s willing to kill again, setting up Taylor to take the fall on both murders. Producer Robert Lord, fresh from prestige pics at Warners, and about to head to Columbia for a series with Humphrey Bogart (including IN A LONELY PLACE/’50), gives this one some nice polish (atmospheric, pacey megging from Curtis Bernhardt; strong noirish chiaroscuro lensing from Paul Vogel). Or does up to the last couple of reels, as if he was already heading out the door. Too bad. For a change, Taylor uses his usual opaque quality for character development, and Totter, soon to find her niche as a dangerous glamorpuss in dark-edged mid-range B-vehicles, plays well against his impassivity. And, as bonus, a disturbingly casual killing from the always immaculate Mr. Marshall.
DOUBLE-BILL: As mentioned, Hitchcock’s slightly ridiculous SPELLBOUND, with Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman & Leo G. Carroll in the Taylor, Totter & Marshall spots. Key diff: Peck’s not a patient at the clinic but the new head doc.
No comments:
Post a Comment