Taking a look at UK DVD company Network during their Christmas sale for titles that I could watch with my dad over the X-Mas season,I spotted a Film Noir that I remembered reading a good review for in Empire magazine,which mentioned that this was the lone movie that British actor Ralph Richardson directed,which led to me setting my clock so I could get home and watch the title at 7.
The plot:
Returning home,banker David Preston starts talking to his wife Janet about how work went.Stopping David in the middle of his stories,Janet asks David where he has been,due to having been away from home (and at work) for an entire day.Telling Janet that he does not know what she is talking about,David picks up the newspaper,and is shocked to discover that he has missed an entire day.Trying to piece together what took place,David finds himself unable to remember anything that happened on his lost day.As he tries to make sense of what has taken place,the police discovery that a member of David's private members club has been found murdered,and that the entire savings of the club have mysteriously disappeared.
View on the film:
Before I get to the movie,I have to mention that Network have given the title a superb transfer,with the picture being pin-stripe sharp and every forgotten footstep from David being clear to hear.
For his lone shot behind the camera, Ralph Richardson (joined by Assistant Director/future Bond director Guy Hamilton) keeps the movie close to its stage roots,as long,stilted takes peel away at David's anxiety over the events that took place.Whilst he does keep things grounded,Richardson boils up a classy Film Noir atmosphere,as elegant low-lighting brightens the fragments of David's memory.
Taking R.C. Sheriff's play from the stage to the screen, Anatole de Grunwald gives David & Janet a perfect image,which gradually fractures as David tries to regain his memory.Calming opening up David's "perfect" image, Grunwald casts David off into a shattered post-war Film Noir world,with a wonderfully left-field twist allowing David's PTSD nightmare to be shown in raw daylight. Appearing prim and proper, Richardson gives a great performance as David,whose mild-manner behaviour is given a sharp sense of doubt by Richardson,as David fails to get home at 7.
The plot:
Returning home,banker David Preston starts talking to his wife Janet about how work went.Stopping David in the middle of his stories,Janet asks David where he has been,due to having been away from home (and at work) for an entire day.Telling Janet that he does not know what she is talking about,David picks up the newspaper,and is shocked to discover that he has missed an entire day.Trying to piece together what took place,David finds himself unable to remember anything that happened on his lost day.As he tries to make sense of what has taken place,the police discovery that a member of David's private members club has been found murdered,and that the entire savings of the club have mysteriously disappeared.
View on the film:
Before I get to the movie,I have to mention that Network have given the title a superb transfer,with the picture being pin-stripe sharp and every forgotten footstep from David being clear to hear.
For his lone shot behind the camera, Ralph Richardson (joined by Assistant Director/future Bond director Guy Hamilton) keeps the movie close to its stage roots,as long,stilted takes peel away at David's anxiety over the events that took place.Whilst he does keep things grounded,Richardson boils up a classy Film Noir atmosphere,as elegant low-lighting brightens the fragments of David's memory.
Taking R.C. Sheriff's play from the stage to the screen, Anatole de Grunwald gives David & Janet a perfect image,which gradually fractures as David tries to regain his memory.Calming opening up David's "perfect" image, Grunwald casts David off into a shattered post-war Film Noir world,with a wonderfully left-field twist allowing David's PTSD nightmare to be shown in raw daylight. Appearing prim and proper, Richardson gives a great performance as David,whose mild-manner behaviour is given a sharp sense of doubt by Richardson,as David fails to get home at 7.