Review: Chase a Crooked Shadow

Set on the coast of Spain, diamond heiress Anne Baxter receives a visitor to her villa in the form of Richard Todd. Todd claims to be Baxter’s brother, but Baxter claims not to recognise Todd, and swears that her brother died in a car accident. Todd claims it was the passenger who died, and he was merely injured and suffered a brief spell of amnesia. She calls the police on him, but Todd is able to convince local cop Vargas (Herbert Lom) that his story is on the level and that his sister is just being ridiculous. He’s even got the same tattoo on his arm that the brother had. Soon he has replaced Baxter’s servants, and is pretty intent on hanging around, driving Baxter to near-breakdown. What on Earth is going on here? Faith Brook plays one of Todd’s companions, Alexander Knox is a well-regarded relative who backs up Todd’s story, to Baxter’s astonishment and confusion.

 

Here’s a nifty little crime-thriller from 1958, with terrific performances and an irresistible mystery plot. It’s got kind of a mixture of “Mirage” and “Kind Lady” but even that description probably doesn’t quite do the film justice. It’s a cracker. It’s not every mystery that is able to keep you invested from start to finish, but this one definitely does. Anne Baxter is excellent in the multi-faceted lead characterisation, Richard Todd is very effective as her adversary. Herbert Lom proves yet again to be able to play any number of different nationalities on screen, rock-solid as a Spanish police detective who doesn’t know who or what to believe at any given moment. The shadowy B&W cinematography by Erwin Hillier (“The Valley of Gwangi”, “Operation Crossbow”, “The Quiller Memorandum”) is excellent, as is the music score by Matyas Seiber (“Animal Farm”, “A Town Like Alice”), assisted on flamenco guitar by Julian Bream. Although the projection work leaves a lot to be desired even for 1958, there’s a particularly hair-raising driving scene to look out for, too.

 

Well-acted, well-scripted mystery-thriller from eclectic director Michael Anderson (“Around the World in 80 Days”, “Operation Crossbow”, “The Quiller Memorandum”) keeps you hooked throughout. You may have seen elements of it elsewhere, but it forges enough of an identity of its own. Definitely worth seeking out, Anne Baxter and Richard Todd are especially terrific. This sort of thing is pretty much right up my alley. Cleverly scripted by David Osborn (“Murder, She Said”) and Charles Sinclair (“The Green Slime”, “Track of the Moon Beast”).

 

Rating: B-

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more