seymourblack-1 This Gothic noir, with its story of a woman-in-danger who's trapped in a creepy mansion, seems to inhabit the same territory as Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" (1940) and George Cukor's "Gaslight" (1944). Unlike its predecessors however, it's a low-budget offering with a relatively short running time. It's fast-moving, suspenseful and full of snappy dialogue and features a cast of colourful characters who are involved in a particularly evil conspiracy. Director Joseph H Lewis' reputation as a talented filmmaker was cemented by the great commercial success that this movie achieved and his skills in creating a brooding atmosphere and making effective use of close-ups is especially apparent in this tense melodrama.Julia Ross (Nina Foch) is a young lady in London who, after a short period of ill-health, finds herself three weeks behind on her rent and out of work. When she sees a newspaper advertisement for a new employment agency, she immediately goes to visit the agency's office and is interviewed by the rather severe-looking Mrs Sparkes (Anita Sharp-Bolster). After establishing that Julia doesn't have any family ties or a boyfriend, Mrs Sparkes decides that she would be suitable for work as a live-in private secretary to her client, Mrs Hughes (Dame May Witty). Mrs Hughes subsequently approves the appointment and at her insistence, Julia moves into her new employer's house that evening.Next morning, Julia wakes up in a strange bedroom in a mansion overlooking the sea in Cornwall and is told by Mrs Hughes and her son Ralph (George Macready) that she's Ralph's wife Marion and when Mrs Sparkes appears to be working at the house as Mrs Hughes' housekeeper, Julia becomes extremely alarmed and recognises that she's being held prisoner. When Julia protests about her situation, no-one takes any notice because the staff have all been told that she's recovering from a mental breakdown and her numerous attempts to escape all end in failure.Despite the treatment that she's subjected to, Julia never doubts her own sanity or her identity and is reassured in these matters when she discovers a secret passage and overhears Mrs Hughes and Ralph discussing their plans to murder her as part of a scheme to cover up a previous murder. Julia's only chance of escape then seems to rest in her own ability to outwit her captors.As the psychotic villain of the piece, George Macready conveys all the madness and menace that Ralph Hughes embodies as he indulges in his unhealthy obsession with knives and consistently fails to control his violent temper. Dame May Witty is very credible as her character who externally seems to be a typically posh elderly lady but is in fact, cruel, amoral and the mastermind of an extremely wicked conspiracy. Nina Foch, on the other hand, does a great job by showing her fear at times but also by being convincingly natural on other occasions.The disorientation and fear that Julia experiences in this movie are well reinforced visually by the use of tilted camera angles and close-ups and her state of being imprisoned is also emphasised by symbols such as the bars on her bedroom window and a shadow-grid on the staircase wall. Similarly, the shadowy compositions within the mansion contribute to the uncomfortable claustrophobic atmosphere that compliments Julia's predicament perfectly.

Armand a nice film. almost naive and not very credible but seductive for the plot who reminds Hitchcock, for cast - Dame May Whitby could not be a surprise - and for the flavor of a lost period. a film noir like a lot of others, it is special for the lovely construction of tension - small bits , little details who prepares the spectator for the heart of story. Nina Foch seems be the ideal Julia Ross and the secret is the clever use of a lot of clichés of time. and sure, a not insignificant detail is the music, the house near the sea, the tools who gives inspired taste to a film noir. the best thing - balance between pieces. not great but nice. and, in that case, it is a real good point.

writers_reign At sixty-five minutes this may well have provided a satisfactory 'B' picture element to a typical double bill risible though it seems today.There's a stunning opening shot of (what will turn out to be the heroine) walking away from camera in the pouring rain and had they been able to sustain that feel this may well have been one to reckon with. Alas, it loses credibility almost at once - certainly when viewed in 2010 - as Lewis crams in exposition and progression in double time so we learn that Julia Ross (Nine Foch) is broke, owes three weeks rent, has just lost a boyfriend to marriage (then, within thirty seconds learns that he couldn't go through with the wedding), sees an ad from a new employment agency in the newspapers, applies, is interviewed and hired for a live-in secretary post on the strength of the fact that she is single, no boyfriend, no parents, no friends or, to put it another way, no one is going to miss her when the new employers turn her lights out. It moves so quickly that at the time the audience wouldn't have had time to reflect on how ludicrous it was but the three leads, Foch, Dame May Witty and George MacReady are all up to snuff and seen today it makes a nice curio.

vocalistbob This is one of those films that it seems Alfred Hitchcock should have directed; The Gazebo is another that comes to mind. Similar to "The Wrong Man" (which was a true story), the odds seem so heavily stacked against our heroine that it seems she will never be able to save herself. Another comparison that comes to mind is "Gaslight".Dame May Witty never gave a bad performance in her life, but here, she seems to sleepwalk through a role that doesn't give her much to work with. Her motivations are never fully revealed beyond the convenient fact that she loves her son.George McCready just has to walk in front of the camera to give me a chill. This "over the top" role may have looked silly had any other actor tried to tackle it.And finally, there's Nina Foch. I have always enjoyed watching her, but never thought she was a terrific actress. I WANTED her to be terrific, because she has a naturally exotic and sensual face and overall appearance, but she never seemed to submerge herself in a role - she always seemed a bit distant and aloof. It's interesting to me that she spent decades as an acting teacher/coach. As the saying goes, "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach".