Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,
... View MoreI was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.
... View MoreJust intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?
... View MoreA terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
... View MoreUS army officer, Captain Dillon (Robert Arden), runs out of fuel on a country lane on his way back to base. He goes to a nearby mansion and meets the glamorous Laura (Anne Heywood). He asks to use the telephone to call for help and takes an immediate liking to Laura who is suffering abuse from her alcoholic husband, Tom Wilton (Basil Dignam), who beats her up. The local army base is about to go on maneuvers and, in order to keep the local people happy, the army decides to hold a party at the base. Dillon sees an opportunity to see Laura again by offering to deliver the invitations, which he does and it is then when Laura persuades him to murder her husband so that they can be together. At the party, Dillon gets Wilton drunk and when he leaves alone in his car Laura is waiting down the road and flags her husband down. Meanwhile, Dillon has slipped away from the party and they knock him out, put him in his car and drive it into the lake to make it look as if he lost control of it in his drunken state and drowned. But is their perfectly planned murder as foolproof as it appears and is Laura the innocent, long suffering wife she claims to be?If ever there was an example of a British film to prove that we could not come anywhere near to doing American film noir then this is certainly it. But, taken on its own merits, this is still an above average crime thriller from quota-quickie specialists The Danziger Brothers. Its tautly directed by the talented Paul Dickson and, despite the shoestring budget, succeeds in creating an engaging little film. The screenplay is by Brian Clemens who would go on to produce and write many classic episodes of the classic spy series The Avengers and here he ensures that the audience gets an unexpected twist at the climax.The Depraved was as the support feature to Richard Widmark's wartime courtroom drama, Time Limit, on the Gaumont-British circuit in 1957.
... View MoreBasically a dud. An unhappy wife married to an older alcoholic husband convinces an American army officer to help her kill her husband and make it look like an accident.Several flaws: the army officer should have been a lot younger it would have been much better if he had been in his twenties same age as wife rather instead of early 40s and stodgy looking to boot.The set is atrocious especially the inside of the house with bamboo and nautical rope themes ugghhhh....especially as you are expecting an English manor house from the driveway up to it.One curious flaw... the MPs have PMs written on their caps--is this the British system? But they were Americans at an American base.Avoid this thing. There is no suspense to speak of and it has incredibly cheap production values...the accident was in no way suspenseful. Nothing about it was suspenseful.DO NOT RECOMMEND
... View MoreThis is a nice and neat little suspense piece in the tradition of "Double Indemnity." and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" An army captain (Robert Arden) falls for an abused wife (Anne Heywood) of a rich man (Basil Dignam).The most noteworthy thing, and what attracted me to watch the movie, is that it was written by master story teller Brian Clemens ("Danger Man," "The Avengers," "Captain Kronos: Vampire Killer"). Clemens' works always move quickly and mix humor, adventure and suspense in a generally pleasing manner. This movie shows that Clemens knew his craft from the beginning of his 50+ year career.He puts in three or four clever plot twists that help refresh the formulaic plot. For example, the abused wife is not nearly as helpless as we thought upon first seeing her.I found Robert Arden quite good and believable as the captain. Although he did a good amount bit roles in television work, this seems to have been his only really starring movie role. It is a shame. He has a Fred MacMurray type of niceness to him which should have led him to more straight heroic roles.Anne Heywood is our femme fatale/heroine.I knew Anne Heywood from her terrific acting in "The Fox." She is very good here as well. One sees exactly why Captain Dillon is willing to risk everything five minutes after meeting her.While this does have elements of classic Film Noir, it is not really representative of that genre. In classic Film Noir, the hero has some disturbance in his past that catches up to him. Here Ms. Heywood is the new and only disturbance.I think suspense and mystery fans will generally enjoy it. It is only slightly above the level of a good detective television series, but as long as you are not expecting too much that will do.
... View MoreCaution: Contains spoilers.If someone had written the script for a film noir from a computer template, this is the sort of film that would have emerged.Strictly formula: A young attractive wife, Laura Wilton, is married to Tom Wilton, a wealthy man about twenty years her senior whom she married for his money. Tom, an alcoholic, physically and verbally abuses Laura and feels that her duty should be to keep the house in order and serve him.Enter Dave Dillon, a handsome American Army officer from a nearby base. In no time, Laura and Dave have begun an affair, and she has enticed him into a plot to kill Tom.They will dispatch Tom in an accident, made to look as if it resulted from Tom's drunken driving. According to formula, their plot doesn't go quite as planned. Nonetheless, Tom ends up dead.Then, also according to formula, the accident is investigated, in this case by an obese Inspector O'Flynn. Soon he "smells a rat" and furthers his investigation. Laura and Dave say and do the wrong things; they begin to distrust each other. Finally, Laura tells Inspector O'Flynn some lies that throws suspicion on Dave.Then, according to formula, Dave discovers that Laura is about to depart for Italy with the chauffeur she'd been having an affair with before Dave happened on the scene. Tom Wilton had fired the chauffeur, saying it wasn't seemly that Laura and he should be seen driving about the countryside together. Tom may also have suspected that Laura and the chauffeur were having an affair.At the film's conclusion, Laura and Tom meet an end that satisfied both the U.S. Production Code and the British Censor Board.All of this happens in 68 tight minutes.Although it follows the classic American noir formula, the film is British. Don't think English county house, however, for the exterior of the Wilton home is very much 50s California Moderne. This is momentarily surprising. After watching Dave Dillon go up a typical English driveway, I was expecting to see a home on the order of Manderlay, but instead got this white modern one. The film does have its share of scenes filmed with the usual American light and shadow of noir.The cast behaves perfunctorily. Of interest here is Anne Heywood early in her career. But she doesn't generate any of the heat of a classic femme fatale like Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity" or Jane Greer in "Out of the Past." Indeed, there are no sparks between her and leading man, Robert Arden.Robert Arden plays Dave Dillon. He was American-born but gave up a singing career to play in British films. His credit list is undistinguished. Here he bears a remarkable similarity to Fred MacMurray, albeit a bit heaver than MacMurray was in his prime.Basil Dignam plays the drunken husband; he shows a fine profile and looks like the aging Leslie Nielsen. Denis Shaw plays the overweight detective.The film did hold my interest; there is narrative thrust. And there is some fun in seeing from what classic American noirs the filmmakers stole. Check out those sunglasses on Heywood when she lies down under the sunlamp. Very much like the ones Stanwyck wore in "Double Indemnity."I could recommend this film only to die-hard film noir fans who just must see every noir ever made.
... View More