clanciai This is a very unusual and intelligent thriller, like most thrillers involving doctors usually are. It is the first of James Mason's very few own productions and features his own wife, Pamela Mason, here Pamela Kellino, as the second of the two ladies he is involved with, both of them leading to disaster. The intrigue cleverly leads astray at times while at the same time it sharpens as the doctor (James Mason) finds his own case constantly more crucial. He stages a kind of mock trial with himself by giving a lecture at the medical theatre with all rows filled with young attentive students, and one student almost sees through his show and sharpens his case even further. Is he in control or is he not? Has he the right to judge what's right or wrong or has he not? The film poses many questions, and the questioning becomes increasingly more critical, until in the end he is faced with the final trial as a doctor, when an emergency calls on him to perform one more brain surgery. It's the doctor who assists him who puts him to the final test, and these scenes are the most interesting and important in the film. James Mason as the doctor has no other choice than to be consistent with his own argument and conclude his own case after having received an understated sentence by his elderly colleague. It's a remarkable film, not for its direction, which could have been better, but for its very thought-provoking story with the presentation of a case which not even doctors could in any possible way be called upon to give a fair judgement of. The tragedy of this case is that James Mason, one of the best actors ever, a constantly brooding romantic hero, more Hamletian than Byronic, has no other choice, which probably no one could reasonably disagree with.In addition, you can't help recognizing some details here from other, later films, that boast its influence, especially Hitchcock's "Vertigo", displaying the identical problem of a man's involvement in two women related with each other, Hitchcock much developing the theme to an equally crucial crisis but in another direction, while the very vertigo scenes Hitchcock must have got the idea of from here.It should also be noted, that John Monaghan, the script writer, appears as an extra (the truck driver), He made some similar appearances in some films, but this is the only film he wrote, with Mrs Mason as co-script writer. The intrigue with its complications and arguments is so psychologically interesting, that you find more in it each time you see it. For that reason, in spite of its flaws, I will give it a full 10.

appealing_talent A very fine neurosurgeon, impeccably portrayed by James Mason, who teaches criminology as a sideline, recounts a certain case study to a class during a lecture. The case deals with a man he deems to be sane, but who commits murder to avenge a murder. Mason, who has honed his great gift to heal, as a way of replacing the human connection his personal life lacks, has become detached and somewhat obsessive in his perspectives, as a result. Although he doesn't reveal it, to the undergraduates, we discover through the course of his story that he is the protagonist in the example he's presenting. He renders the murder as having been smoothly and successfully carried out, however we learn immediately thereafter that it actually has not yet been accomplished.Mason's skillfully controlled persona, as the neurosurgeon, is letter perfect and one gets the feeling that his assumptions regarding the way in which a guilt ridden former lady love died are most probably true. Although an inquest rules it as an accidental fall, gossipy detractors place the blame on the woman's, self-centered, opportunistic sister-in-law, who has much to gain financially by the woman's death. Mason's doctor character feels compelled, out of vanity, to justify his revenge to the unwitting students and then sets out to put the final segment of the plot into action.Murphy's law and irony prevail causing the retaliation to not come off nearly as seamlessly as planned. Moreover, while looking for a place to dispose of his murder victim's body Mason meets up with another more sardonic doctor, whom he's forced to give a ride to and is subsequently obliged to assist. Mason operates on and saves a young patient's life, only to be castigated and labeled, as mad, by the other doctor for his motives. The other doctor, who at one point is asked to fetch a medical supply from Mason's car, discovers the camouflaged body of his victim in the back seat but, without turning Mason in, rather asserts a moral dilemma, which figuratively then literally pushes Mason over the edge.The title of the film comes into play in the form of an analogy the other doctor makes to a glass precariously perched to fall, crack and break, comparing it to Mason's unsound mind. Mason gets the point and abruptly does a swan dive over an abyss, into the sea. We are left to ponder whether it was a consequence of being faced with his monumental conceit, or hypocritical notion of altruism, that ultimately causes his undoing.The noir aspects of its film techniques aside, this is a brilliant character study and Mason's superb achievement, alone, in creating a complex, sympathetic murderer makes the movie well worth viewing.

MartinHafer Up until about 80-90% of the way though the film, I was very impressed by "The Upturned Glass". It was an interesting thriller that was unique and worth seeing. However, towards the end, the film seemed more hastily written and a bit dumb--especially when the murder occurred.James Mason plays a neurologist who is well-known for his great lectures. In a hall packed with students, he tells the story of a patient who murdered but was NOT mentally imbalanced. While he changes the names of the characters, the film audience can see that the story is about Mason himself--he will eventually kill someone. The story explains all the events leading up to it. Then you learn that he has NOT yet killed but wanted, in a crazy way, to tell others about his plan before executing it. All this is quite good. However, when he then executes the plan, it's amazingly sloppy and he makes many mistakes. I didn't like this but at least the film in the end redeemed itself with a dandy ending. In many ways, this is almost like a British version of noir. Interesting and worth seeing.By the way, look for the scene with the 'American' soldier. His accent was TERRIBLE and he clearly sounded like a Brit trying to sound American. I assume in American-made films, we Yanks must sound the same way when we portray Brits!

bkoganbing James Mason in one of his last British films before accepting that contract with MGM and leaving for America plays a doctor who may have become too detached from life. A prominent brain surgeon he accepts the case of young Ann Stephens whose eyesight he saves with a delicate operation. In the process he falls in love with Ann's mother Rosamund John.Both Mason and John are separated from their respective spouses and we never meet either of them in The Upturned Glass. But their relationship contains a mixture of guilt for both of them. Shortly after they end things, Mason hears that John falls to her death in her own home.Mason had already met Pamela Kellino and formed a bad opinion of her almost immediately. She's Rosamund's sister-in-law and Stephen's aunt and she's a selfish materialistic woman, a regular Cruela DeVille in real life. She's easy too hate and Mason courts her to get close.The film is told about 2/3 of the way in flashback as Mason lectures to a university class on the atypical murderer, the sane and logical one which he naturally takes himself to be. The rest of the film is a revealing portrayal of how Mason should be seen.The Upturned Glass is a nice bit of melodramatic noir with Mason really carrying this film. His perfect performance makes The Upturned Glass seem far better than it really is.