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Wednesday, January 31, 2024

HIDDEN FEAR (1957)

Interesting journeyman leading man John Payne and interesting journeyman director André De Toth, both hanging on by their thumbs in indie features before succumbing to tv*, had a good late outing with this unsung Euro-noir; now looking & sounding as well as it ever has in a cleaned up release from Kino-Lorber.  Filmed entirely on location in Copenhagen, exteriors and interiors (hence the occasional dicey sound when not at the local film studio), De Toth knows how to get the most out of picturesque Danish cafés & massed bicyclists while darker deeds play out in the foreground.  He also encourages Payne into an oddly charmless tough-guy portrait to match his own brutalist tendencies.  An American cop out of his domain, Payne’s in town to check on his kid sister, charged with murder and up to no good playing escort . . . or worse.  Turns out, she’s an minor pawn in a major counterfeit racket run by Alexander Knox that’s about to hit the streets with a mass distribution of phony bills; but only if they can suppress early circulation from spoiling the launch.  While Payne, and top local detective Kjeld Jacobsen (excellent), follow the clues in standard procedural fashion.  The female players generally aren’t up to the men here, but the real reason to check it out is for De Toth’s violent-happy set pieces.  The last two particularly well handled: an urban street chase finale (cars, vans, bikes, pedestrians) doing double-duty as a suspenseful sightseeing tour; and just before it, a twisty hide-and-seek search in a mansion that’s also a little masterclass in editing via logistics & precision composition.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *Phil Karlson’s KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL/’52 is the go-to recommendation for Payne’s spate of low-ball indie noirs, But its follow-up, 99 RIVER STREET/’53, is even more ‘out there.’    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2017/11/99-river-street-1953.html   OR:  George Seaton, never the most visual of directors, may have had a looksie at this to judge by his COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR/’62.  Not the ‘counterfeit’ part (it’s a WWII spy pic), but in the use of bikes & traffic for its Holland location-shot finale.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/06/counterfeit-traitor-1962.html

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