That Woman Opposite

This is a low budget B or maybe co feature from Monarch.They have brought together a reasonable cast upon which they presumably have spent most of the budget.they clearly weren't able to afford much for their American import,Phyllis Kirk.The plot is quite reasonable with a number of twists and turns till we get to the climax.There unfortunately we are rather let down by the writer and director.It is unfortunately just plain silly.Dan O herily does a reasonable job as the insurance investigator who is of course always one step ahead of the law.there is a very amusing scene in the middle of the film when Jack Watling is almost caught with his trousers down by his fiancée at the house of his mistress.he then orders his mistress out forgetting that it is her house they are in.Not a great film but beats anything they are going to show us on TV over Christmas.

Wilfrid Hyde-White is rich, aristocratic, and has a lot of people with good reason for killing him, from his collection of jewelry and antiques, to his son, whose marriage he suggests he may forbid, to his daughter, who is married but carrying on an affair. So it's hardl surprising that he's killed at the 30-minute mark in this movie derived from John Dickson Carr's The Emperor's Snuffbox.

Carr is an outsized figure in the evolution of the murder mystery. Not only was he a leading proponent of the locked room mystery, produced so many books he had a pseudonym almost as famous as his real name, and was an early proponent of the historical mystery. The book this was based on was not one of his regular series, but it is considered one of his best.

As for the movie, it's an engaging mystery, with Phyllis Kirk, Petula Clark and Dan O'Herlihy in good-sized roles. Still, it spends most of its time concentrating on the elaborate unraveling of the mystery, rather than the characters, who become thinly realized as a result.

In a French coastal town, Det. Dermot Kinross is inspecting the murder of antiques dealer Maurice Lawes, and the evidence points to Lawes's son, Toby - and especially to Toby's bride-to-be, Eve Atwood. Eve's ex-husband, Ned, had his eyes set on something Lawes possessed.

I love reading John Dickson Carr, the master of the Locked Room mystery, so I was eager to see an adaptation, curious how Carr's complicated yet clever plot would fit in a film, and the result is quite good. It's a solidly executed mystery, has an array of interesting characters and noir-like atmosphere. It's not amazing, but it's intriguing and compelling enough, and it's well-acted, though Dan O Herlihy makes a bland hero:

The film begins with a British policeman struggling with a burglary suspect. The suspect shoves the cop into the wall...and the next day the policeman dies from his head wounds.

The story then switches to an insurance investigator (O'Herlihy) visiting various homes on the street, as apparently these are rich folks who all have policies with his company. Some new characters are introduced and soon you learn that Sir Maurice's son is planning on marrying a woman who was married to a scoundrel some time ago. Where does all this go next? Well, A LOT of places as the plot is pretty complex...but ultimately enjoyable.

This is a decent murder mystery and I think Dan O'Herlihy's fine acting helped a bit to make the film just a bit better. Not a great film...but a very good one.