Chase a Crooked Shadow

A movie you will always remember. Intriguing story, 'look behind you' thrills, 'face at the door' shocks, solid acting, a great 'twist in the tale' and haunting guitar music.

It may have been cheaply made and studio bound but it just goes to prove you can't beat a good story and ... a memorable tune. Enjoy, because they don't make them like that anymore.

"Chase a Crooked Shadow" is a 1958 black and white film starring Anne Baxter, Richard Todd, Herbert Lom, Alexander Knox, and Faith Brook.

Baxter plays an heiress, Kimberly Prescott, living abroad, whose dead brother (Todd) turns up after being killed in a car accident a year earlier. Except he's not her brother.

He brings a woman, Miss Whitman (Brook) with him, sends Kimberly's maid away and brings in his own servants. Kimberly is desperate to reach her architect friend Chandler (Knox) who will know this man isn't her brother, but she can't reach him. And the local chief of police (Lom) seems to side with the fake brother.

Well, after all, he does have the correct ID, and the photo Kimberly keeps by her bed has suddenly turned into a photo of the fake!

The question is, what do these people want? Is she safe with them, or do they plan to get rid of her?

This intriguing, atmospheric drama is excellent, except I've seen so many of these things (it's one of my favorite genres) that I figured the plot out right away. Most people will simply enjoy the ride and the surprises.

Baxter looks lovely as the put-upon, desperate heiress, and the role calls for a gamut of emotions, all of which she delivers. Todd and Lom are terrific as well. Really excellent, with very good performances all around.

When I was a little boy, I had seen the film, but remembered little of it. However, in the early sixties, my Dad took me on a holiday to Spain, to a little village south of Barcelona, called Sitges. During one coach journey, the courier told us that the mountain road that we were now on was the scene of a fast car drive in a film made a couple of years previously, called 'Chase a Crooked Shadow'. I remember the road well, with the cliff drops hundreds of feet below to the sea and this coupled with my fond memory of that holiday in Franco's long gone Spain and the fact that the film itself is a brilliant piece of old cinema with a terrific twist at the end, makes me watch this film over and over again. I see something in it every time I watch it - the sign of a good film!

Although it has been suggested that the premise of Michael Anderson's film is based upon Josephine Tey's 'Brat Farrar', subsequently filmed by Hammer as 'Paranoiac', it actually bears a far greater resemblance to an American radio play from 1948 entitled 'Stranger in the House'.

Be that as it may the plot of this particular opus, although ingenious, is inclined to stretch credibility to the utmost but remains eminently watchable thanks to Mr. Anderson's customary craftsmanship and undeniable skill with actors. The films fabulous 'look' is courtesy of Anderson's favoured cinematographer Ernest Hillier who learnt his trade under Murnau and Lang which is especially evident in the interior and night-time scenes. Although slowly paced the director and editor Gordon Pilkington maintain the tension and during the car ride at high speed along a mountain road, the splicing of back projection and live footage is brilliantly done.

This is Richard Todd's third film for this director and although Mr. Todd is traditionally at his best in uniform he acquits himself well here as a man who is not exactly what he appears to be! Good support from Alexander Knox and Faith Brook whilst the immaculate Herbert Lom is, as always, great value.

As an ardent devotee of Anne Baxter I would have to say that as well as looking good enough to eat her portrayal of gradually mounting hysteria is wondrous to behold. A consummate professional who never gave less than her best, whatever her material.

A few years earlier Michael Anderson had been described by one critic as the most promising British director since Carol Reed and David Lean. Although he may not perhaps have reached the heights of those two, he did, to an extent, fulfil his promise.

Riveting psychological thriller. Kimberley (Baxter) returns to her isolated seaside villa following roadside death of her brother. Trouble is a guy (Todd) turns up claiming he's the dead brother, Ward. It should be easy to expose the imposter, she figures. Except it's not. His face turns up in family albums, while he seems to know all about their past as brother and sister. So what's going on. No matter what she does, even with the police inspector (Lom), she can't disprove his claim. Now she's beginning to doubt her sanity. But who will help her in this isolated seaside spot.

Actress Baxter has a well-known tendency to over-emote. Here, however, she delivers a carefully restrained and shaded performance in the pivotal role. Add British actor Todd as the impassive, slightly sinister, Ward, along with a tight suspenseful script that cleverly unfolds, and you've got a good slice of A-grade entertainment. Those who've noted a resemblance to standard Hitchcock fare are on target.

There're a few tense high spots—the reckless race over the seaside road, the sleight-of-hand with incriminating liquor glasses, Kimberlie's hide-and-seek escape from the house. But just as magnetic is the general mood of subtle menace, as we wonder exactly what's going on. And, oh yes, the twist ending that's something of a stretch, yet satisfying nonetheless. All in all, the movie's a neo-Hitchcock sleeper, well worth catching up with.