Review: Four-Sided Triangle

Childhood friends Stephen Murray, John Van Eyssen, and Barbara Payton are working on a scientific project – a duplication device. Murray has long harboured feelings for Payton, but the latter becomes engaged to Van Eyssen. What is a scientist with a duplication device and a love triangle to do? James Hayter plays the resident doctor in the small town the characters live in.

 

You won’t find too many films that director Terence Fisher (“Stolen Face”, “The Curse of Frankenstein”, “Horror of Dracula”) also worked on the screenplay for. In fact, there’s only two, the mediocre 1953 “Mantrap” and this 1953 sci-fi/drama, both for Hammer Studios. To be honest, it’s pretty clear that Fisher’s strengths aren’t in screenwriting, but this is by far the better of the two films. James Hayter and his narration are terrific, the film has a cosy, small village family movie vibe, at least at first. Imagine “The Fly” done by Frank Capra but set in England, and you’ll have some idea. There’s also some interest in seeing how an idea like this one was handled in 1953, like a dry run for what Hammer would give us in a few years with their “Frankenstein” films. The formula still has some kinks, but the bare bones are evident here in this man messing with the ‘natural order of things’ story. The lab equipment seen in the film was certainly a sign of things to come for Hammer.

 

The best thing here is the B&W cinematography by Reginald Wyer (“Mantrap”, “Spaceways”, “The Brigand of Kandahar”, “Night of the Big Heat”), which is stunning. The three main characters are predominantly likeable, but only one of them is interesting (the one played very well by Stephen Murray) and the film’s science is just a touch too dumb, even for science fiction. The conceit of creating a duplicate as done here, while interesting, is scientifically silly beyond belief. Also, the fact that the film is telling this story from a very 1950s male POV, doesn’t help in making this one terribly easy to watch in 2026. The lead female character really ought to have more depth to her, even for a 1950s British film. Feminists might be – rightly – apoplectic over this film’s lack of agency for women, and Murray’s character sure goes into some very disturbing territory.

 

A flawed, somewhat outdated, but still quite interesting and well-shot sci-fi drama with a nice small-town vibe. This isn’t top-tier Hammer but it’s worthy of a soft recommendation at least so long as you can consider the era in which it was made. The screenplay is by Fisher and Paul Tabori (“Mantrap”, “Spaceways”) from the William F. Temple novel.

 

Rating: B-

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