Footsteps in the Fog

She died last weekend aged 80, a great star whose career never seemed to find a summit, forestalled by middling films and imprecise casting. While this Edwardian Gothic gave her one of her more intriguing roles I've always felt she was too beautiful for it. If Lily the blackmailing housemaid had been less attractive the dangerous affair with her murderous employer would have felt a lot darker, seamier and her final pathos - the little skivvy whose dream-world collapses around her - more acute. When the Grangers are together they look perfectly suited - a married star-team of their day. Full marks to their performances, though.

While one or two plot-twists are far too facile - the brother-in-law mistaking the barrister for Lowry just because he comes out of a room, for instance - Arthur Lubin's direction gets the points across clearly and efficiently though lacking the Hitchcock intensity and lingering touches which might have made this a minor classic. A solid Technicolor production there's nonetheless a certain aura of rush and tweaking here and there with odd continuity slips and scenes that suddenly trail away in mid-sentence. Some bad processing is evident when the rather wet second-leads go driving together in the new horseless-carriage, which at least provides some topically amusing light-relief. But it's a memorable little show overall, good to watch with a last glimpse of Granger that's quite clammy - and now to be cherished more than ever as another movie-icon slips away from us in the dark.

At first glance, FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG looks to be a traditional Gothic mystery about a maid becoming involved with her sinister master, who may or may not have contributed to his wife's demise. Once you start watching it, though, you quickly realise that this film is anything but traditional. Instead it's a uniquely quirky black comedy, an exploration of some of the seedier aspects of the human condition; the '50s version of VERY BAD THINGS, if you will.

Stewart Granger, who has the capacity to be wooden (see SODOM & GOMORRAH), is a good fit as Stephen Lowry, a shifty aristocrat who thinks nothing of poisoning his wife when he tires of her. Even better is Jean Simmons as his timid maid who decides to take on her master. The whole film hinges on this central relationship, and it's a real zinger.

Excellent production values, plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour, and a finely-judged humorous supporting role for William Hartnell (HELL DRIVERS) all help to provide the interest, and by the end of it FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG has become a thoroughly engrossing and atypical mystery story with plenty of twists you'll never see coming. A gem, in other words!

Footsteps in the Fog is directed by Arthur Lubin and collectively written and adapted by Lenore J. Coffee, Dorothy Davenport & Arthur Pierson. It is based on the short story, The Interruption, written by Gothic novelist W. W. Jacobs. It stars Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Bill Travers, Belinda Lee and Ronald Squire. Music is by Benjamin Frankel and Technicolor cinematography by Christopher Challis.

Stephen Lowry (Granger) is found by the house maid, Lily Watkins (Simmons), to have poisoned his wife. She promptly uses the information to blackmail Lowry. But with an attraction there they begin to have a relationship, however, motives and means are far from clear...

A darn cracker of an Edwardian thriller that's redolent with Gothic atmosphere and film noir tints, Footsteps in the Fog also features nifty story telling that's acted considerably well by the then husband and wife team of Granger & Simmons. The plot features murder, betrayal and dangerous love, with warped psychology the order of the day, all done up splendidly in Technicolor by Powell & Pressburger's favourite cinematographer, Challis. Characterisations are deliberately perverse, Lily knows Stephen is a murderer, but is not afraid of him, she loves him on the terms of love that only she understands. Stephen is a dastard, dangerously so, but he's not beyond remorse either, and shows it. Both homme and femme are connivers, a recipe for disaster. These facts mark this particular coupling out as one of the most skew whiff in 50s thrillers. And thankfully when the denouement comes, it's a kicker, a real throat grabber that perfectly crowns this deliciously crafty picture. Support comes from a number of established British thespians like William Hartnel, Finlay Currie and Ronald Squire, while the art department have come up trumps for the period design. All told it's a film deserving of a bigger audience and easily recommended to classic melodrama/thriller fans. 8/10

"Footsteps in the Fog" is a truly excellent Victorian drama starring husband and wife team Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons.

Granger plays Stephen Lowry, a man who has murdered his wife and gotten away with it; Simmons plays his maid, Lily, who knows he did it. There are two different paths he can take to keep her quiet. He prefers one way; she prefers the other.

Meanwhile, Lowry has fallen for a beautiful woman, Elizabeth Travers (the luminous Belinda Lee) of his own class, and, after a suitable period of mourning, wants to marry her.

The fly in the ointment there is a solicitor, David MacDonald (Bill Travers) who is also in love with Elizabeth and very suspicious of Lowry's behavior. When Lowry is accused of a crime, Elizabeth asks David to take the case.

This is a really neat film with a surprise ending. The acting is wonderful, as is the atmosphere, which captures not only the danger in certain scenes but the whole ambiance of Victorian London.

Jean Simmons to my mind has always been underrated. She does an excellent job here as the quietly wily Lily. Granger is attractive and plays the fairly unflappable Lowry very well.

Sadly, the gorgeous Lee would die a few years later, at the age of 26, in a car accident. Not only is she lovely in the role, but no expense was spared for her costumes, especially that blue gown.

Filmed in color. Highly recommended. A real buried treasure.

This movie is certainly one of the best victorian-era thriller melodramas ever made. The atmosphere is perfect (at least according to what we expect victorian atmosphere to be). Both Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons give wonderful performances, each being ideally cast in his/her role. The suspense builds up perfectly, answering the viewers question as to how the katharsis will come at the end. And it is a very satisfying solution - with the exception perhaps of the last words said by Jean Simmons. All in all an excellent movie that deserves much wider recognition than it actually enjoys.