Many seem to dismiss this movie as a mild matinée entertainment. I found it very unsettling as the story deliberately starts with a normal, boring situation only to depart from normality in an abrupt and disturbing way to offer a glare into the abyss of the human psyche. The first two or three minutes the viewer is given time to settle down for something that looks like a comedy. A cheerful caricature of a meek office clerk (Ralph Richardson) comes home. He meets his wife desperate, she tells him he has disappeared for 24 hours. The clerk is not aware of that.
Now, this is a standard situation for a comedy. But in this movie the couple in question is simply shattered. Time you cannot account for is regarded by them as abnormal, a potential sin. Distrust arises, the wife distrusts her husband and, what's worse, the husband distrusts himself. The situation gets worse when the clerk learns that a member of a club he belongs to was murdered during the time in question. In desperation he goes to see a doctor (Jack Hawkins) and tells him of his memory loss and the murder. He also tells him that he thinks he might have committed the murder. As the doctor tries to laugh that off the clerk says: But I absolutely hated that man. He does that with an unexpected vehemence that it really made me jump.
The riddle can be solved and the story has a happy ending. The clerk's amnesia was caused by subconscious memories of bombing raids, a backfiring car made him go into shock for 24 hours, luckily in a safe place" (a pub). As a matter of fact, the discovery of this hidden vulnerability is horrific and was probably not uncommon the time this movie was made. And the way the main protagonist practically bends over double to put blame on himself is heart-wrenching. Ralph Richardson gives a deep, feeling performance in this unusual psychological drama about guilt, trust, order and disorder. He also directed.
Now, this is a standard situation for a comedy. But in this movie the couple in question is simply shattered. Time you cannot account for is regarded by them as abnormal, a potential sin. Distrust arises, the wife distrusts her husband and, what's worse, the husband distrusts himself. The situation gets worse when the clerk learns that a member of a club he belongs to was murdered during the time in question. In desperation he goes to see a doctor (Jack Hawkins) and tells him of his memory loss and the murder. He also tells him that he thinks he might have committed the murder. As the doctor tries to laugh that off the clerk says: But I absolutely hated that man. He does that with an unexpected vehemence that it really made me jump.
The riddle can be solved and the story has a happy ending. The clerk's amnesia was caused by subconscious memories of bombing raids, a backfiring car made him go into shock for 24 hours, luckily in a safe place" (a pub). As a matter of fact, the discovery of this hidden vulnerability is horrific and was probably not uncommon the time this movie was made. And the way the main protagonist practically bends over double to put blame on himself is heart-wrenching. Ralph Richardson gives a deep, feeling performance in this unusual psychological drama about guilt, trust, order and disorder. He also directed.