Review: The Snorkel

Peter Van Eyck devised a way to murder his wife. He drugs her, gasses the room, seals it up, hides under the floorboards and uses a snorkel attached to air pipes to that he can breathe. When the body is eventually discovered and police see that the house has been locked from the inside with no signs of anyone else around? The crime is judged to be suicide. Van Eyck can emerge from his hiding spot at a convenient time and walk away unscathed. However, his young stepdaughter (Mandy Miller) already suspects Van Eyck of having killed her father some time ago and is determined to prove him guilty of this crime as well. Betta St. John plays Miller’s governess who falls under the charming Van Eyck’s spell, whilst Gregoire Aslan plays the police inspector who dismisses the child’s accusations.

 

Based on a story by character actor Anthony Dawson (co-star of “Dr. No” and “Dial M For Murder”), this is essentially a Hammer version of Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt”. A nifty 1958 crime-thriller from Guy Green (“A Patch of Blue”, a favourite of mine) that would’ve been absolutely masterful…had it ended just a few moments earlier. Green and screenwriters Jimmy Sangster (“The Curse of Frankenstein”, “The Horror of Dracula”) and Peter Myers (“Go to Blazes”) had the chance for something really bold and memorable here, but perhaps they were curbed somewhat by the censors/morality of the day. As is, it’s still pretty damn good, with Peter Van Eyck in particular scoring well as the duplicitous cad who thinks he’s figured out how to commit the perfect murder. In “Shadow of a Doubt”, Uncle Charlie was mixed up in the head, but this guy? He’s just amoral and diabolical, with Van Eyck’s rather flat voice chillingly deployed here (as is face, he gets stone-cold when upset). He’s a real smooth bastard who seems to have all of his bases covered, but as with “Shadow of a Doubt” he may have met his match in a determined young woman.

 

I think Van Eyck deserved a bigger and better career and the same can be said for leading lady Betta St. John, who actually reminds me a lot of “Shadow of a Doubt” actress Teresa Wright in terms of looks. She’s very sympathetic, and has a lovely screen presence. There’s also solid work by Gregoire Aslan as the police inspector. On the downside, young Mandy Miller definitely isn’t Teresa Wright, and is sadly rather wooden. On the other end of the scale is a cocker spaniel named Flush, who in the role of Toto is a shameless ham whom director Green should’ve reined in. I’m almost serious, too.

 

A rock-solid Hammer thriller that could’ve been even better if it had been allowed to really follow through with its conclusion. Van Eyck is completely diabolical.

 

Rating: B-

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