malcolmgsw There is far too much music and not enough mystery.It means that the film lasts 15 minutes more then need be.Alex Nicol is yet another key lagged American who stumbled unwisely into a situation that leads to murder..He then spends the rest of the film trying to solve who is the murderer between blowing his own trumpet.It really is not particularly exciting.

JohnHowardReid Terence Fisher directed the 1954 "The Black Glove" (British title: "Face the Music") for Hammer in which Alex Nicol starred before he made the far more important "House Across the Lake" for writer- director Ken Hughes. In this "Face the Music", Nicol is a cornet player (his solos are superbly dubbed by Kenny Baker, who can also be spotted on screen as the band leader) who becomes innocently involved with a girl (Ann Hanslip) who is later found murdered. Despite the familiar plot, Fisher manages to create a fair amount of atmosphere and tension before the final somewhat disappointing climax in which the real killer is unmasked. Fortunately, the film is strong on milieu and music, and also has some smart dialogue. However, Eleanor Summerfield is wasted in a nothing role (although it starts promisingly). And at 85 minutes, the film is longer than most "B" movies. But what could you cut? I wouldn't like to cut any of the musical numbers. You could take the scissors to Paul Carpenter's role, but he not only provides some much-needed action, but he's mighty convincing as well. In any event, his role is, if anything, too short! (Available on an excellent VCI DVD coupled with a U.S.A. cut-down of "Third Party Risk" a.k.a."The Big Deadly Game")

mark.waltz The brassy sounds of Alex Nicol's trumpet blare as he tries to find who came in to a rising singer's apartment after he left and killed her. Having left his horn behind, he is naturally the first suspect, even though he's at the height of his popularity and the current toast of London. Determined to clear himself, he visits everybody she knew and the list of suspects add up. Along the way, he meets her grieving sister (Eleanor Summerfield), a hard-boiled second rate night club singer who was intensely envious of her sister and slowly reveals her innermost feelings to him, a soul riddled with insecurities, self-hatred and a desire to escape from her tortured lack of self-esteem.Nicol is excellent in this look of London's jazz clubs and recording studios where a rise to fame from dive pubs and second rate recording studios can be more important than a spaghetti dinner. The revealing hatred towards the dead girl increase as characteristics of her are revealed that made her not as nice as she seemed. The musical sequences (both vocal and instrumental) are quite memorable, and the supporting performances are all on the money. This is a delightful surprise in the sometimes mixed bag of British noir, a similar story so well written with acerbic dialog and a great poem duet between Nicol and the murder victim (Ann Hanslip) that is as spicy as the "suppose" conversation between Stanwyck and MacMurray in "Double Indemnity". Then, there's Nicol's sequence of choosing a new trumpet after his has been entered by the police as evidence. It is little details like this that make this sleeper a nice discovery.

FilmFlaneur Taking advantage of arrangements favoured by the UK's Eady levy (a state film subsidy established after the war) in 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent - frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country - while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers. None were entirely of the first rank, but they remain never less than entertaining, and include THE BLACK GLOVE.The presence of Alex Nichol and the trumpet playing of Kenny Ball somewhat compensate for weaknesses elsewhere in The Black Glove (aka: Face The Music, 1953) a thriller set in a London world of basement jazz clubs, recording studios and dingy flats. The genial Nichol, perhaps best remembered today for his role as the rancher's crazed son in The Man From Laramie (1955), plays hero James Bradley, a musician who picks up a singer after a London concert, only for her to be murdered shortly after. Following the familiar pattern, Bradley has to discover the real killer and clear himself of suspicion. Nichol gives a likable performance as the trumpet player in a film that includes an archetypal noir voice-over as well as Kenny Ball's frequently soulful contribution on brass, which both add a good deal to the atmosphere. The opening, mutual attraction between Bradley and victim Maxine, played out over music, is especially fine. The intensity between kindred spirits recalls the first meeting in Gun Crazy (1950) while their later scenes just after, expressing their growing romance in cynical rhyming couplets ("Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, show me a woman a man can trust," etc), is also memorable. Bradley's continuous, professed lack of sleep adds to the dream-like mood of the piece. Maxine's sister Barbara works in Soho's Underground Club - "the sort of place you live horizontally or not at all" and most of the clues are found in and around the music produced there. The end of the film is more disappointing, a curious throwback to traditional whodunits, with principal suspects and interested police gathered together in a single room, so that the killer can be progressively unmasked. It's a clumsy and unconvincing narrative device. Director Fisher would later be associated with many of Hammer's celebrated Gothic horror releases.