A yogi seemingly dies while simulating death and his evil second wife, and her daughter, try to force his daughter into insanity for control of his estate.A yogi seemingly dies while simulating death and his evil second wife, and her daughter, try to force his daughter into insanity for control of his estate.A yogi seemingly dies while simulating death and his evil second wife, and her daughter, try to force his daughter into insanity for control of his estate.
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Based on the extremely popular BBC radio series from the thirties and forties, The Man in Black played by famously spooky voiced Valentine Dyall introduces the story. Yogi follower Sid James dies in his country pile leaving his fortune to his daughter. His wife looks for ways of disinheriting her through having her committed or worse.
Whilst you can quite easily see roughly what is going on here right from the start and it is all a bit twin set and pearls, there is much to enjoy here and a number of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It's an early Hammer film and its radio origins do rather betray it, but it makes for a pleasant hour and a half and nice to Sid James in a straight role for once.
Whilst you can quite easily see roughly what is going on here right from the start and it is all a bit twin set and pearls, there is much to enjoy here and a number of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It's an early Hammer film and its radio origins do rather betray it, but it makes for a pleasant hour and a half and nice to Sid James in a straight role for once.
This is a chamber drama of a family, as a rich dying father leaves everything to his only daughter, who is beset by her stepmother and her daughter (who then isn't even her half-sister), who of course are interested in the inheritance, as the father only leaves them morsels. The intrigue is how they will go about it, and their method is very similar to that of "Gaslight". There is an old servant of the manor, usuallly drunk, however, whom they don't bother to count with, which is their mistake. They don't get any help either from the opportunist wooer, who thinks it will be easy to marry the heiress for her money, even though he accidentally succeeds in killing the old drunk. The whole thing gets increasingly messed up, and the greedy ladies gradually lose control of what is happening. But it is a very intelligent intrigue, all the absurd turnings of the tale are quite logical when you analyse them, but it could have been made a so much better film. As it is, it is too much condensed, which makes it superficial. A man like Hitchcock would have been needed to film a drama like this, he wouldn't have missed the opportunity for suspense and surprise, but taken better care of the vital crucial moments.
Stealing From Radio was a Common Occurrence in the Movies and Television.
This Early Hammer Studios Rendition of a Popular BBC Radio Series is Very Well Done with Excellent Costumes, Make-Up, Acting, and Sets.
The Studio seems to be Firing on All Cylinders with this Effort.
It is a Harbinger of the Style and Success that Hammer would be come Known for After its Break-Through in the Mid 50's.
The Acting is Above Average for this Type of Thing.
And the Snappy Script Keeps Things Hopping and the Two Females that "Gaslight" are Creepy and Loathsome.
Sidney James has a Dual Role.
The Ending is a one of Surprise.
But some may Find it was Telegraphed in the First-Act.
One of the Better of its Type. Worth a Watch to See Early Hammer at Work and for the Overall Production that is Above Average.
This Early Hammer Studios Rendition of a Popular BBC Radio Series is Very Well Done with Excellent Costumes, Make-Up, Acting, and Sets.
The Studio seems to be Firing on All Cylinders with this Effort.
It is a Harbinger of the Style and Success that Hammer would be come Known for After its Break-Through in the Mid 50's.
The Acting is Above Average for this Type of Thing.
And the Snappy Script Keeps Things Hopping and the Two Females that "Gaslight" are Creepy and Loathsome.
Sidney James has a Dual Role.
The Ending is a one of Surprise.
But some may Find it was Telegraphed in the First-Act.
One of the Better of its Type. Worth a Watch to See Early Hammer at Work and for the Overall Production that is Above Average.
This British film begins with learning that Mr. Clavering (Sidney James) is a follower of Eastern mysticism and is married to a horrid second wife, Bertha. He knows he's dying and decides to try out a particularly difficult and dangerous stunt...to put himself into a death-like trance. He demands absolute silence...claiming it could be fatal if anyone makes any noise. During this exhibition, a painting falls off the wall...and Clavering appears to actually be dead!
When the will is read, the bulk of the estate is to be given to Clavering's daughter from his first marriage, Joan. However, Bertha and her viper-like daughter are allowed to stay in the house and the will stipulates that Bertha is to advise and oversee Joan until she reaches 21. Bertha instead decides her best route is to instead try to drive Joan mad and take the fortune for herself! To do so, she begins 'gaslighting' Joan. In other words, acts as if things are just fine and gets Joan to doubt her own sanity. To assist, is a particularly vicious thug, Victor. So what's next? See the film.
I give this film kudos for being darned clever. The script is very well written--with nice unexpected twists, a terrific ending and wonderful dialog. All in all, a nice little suspense film that manages to offer a few genuine surprises.
When the will is read, the bulk of the estate is to be given to Clavering's daughter from his first marriage, Joan. However, Bertha and her viper-like daughter are allowed to stay in the house and the will stipulates that Bertha is to advise and oversee Joan until she reaches 21. Bertha instead decides her best route is to instead try to drive Joan mad and take the fortune for herself! To do so, she begins 'gaslighting' Joan. In other words, acts as if things are just fine and gets Joan to doubt her own sanity. To assist, is a particularly vicious thug, Victor. So what's next? See the film.
I give this film kudos for being darned clever. The script is very well written--with nice unexpected twists, a terrific ending and wonderful dialog. All in all, a nice little suspense film that manages to offer a few genuine surprises.
Based on the British radio series Appointment with Fear and one of Hammer's earliest ventures into horror, albeit as a film noir thriller, smoking and murder are the order of the day with The Man in Black. Despite all its creaks and groans of cliché, the film remains a thoroughly entertaining watch, filled with spooky kitchen sink melodrama and enjoyable performances. The direction by Francis Searle is adequately engaging, with plenty of moody images which bolster the otherwise notably cheap production and relatively straight-laced script. The interplay between Betty Ann Davies and Sheila Burrell makes up the heart of this film's runtime, and they achieve some sinister moments, yet can also be very funny together, managing to be both repellently toxic and beguilingly seductive at the same time. We are also treated to some prime Sid James in one of his earliest film roles, long before his part in the Carry On ensemble. Here, he plays a serious and quite sober role with conviction, even going as far as to play a dual role, something he does with perfect competence. There are a couple of interesting twists and turns to The Man in Black, but this isn't a classic for a reason; the titular character plays no real part in the narrative, and we don't even see him on screen again after the opening credits end but the film keeps up a relatively breezy pace to the point where, if you're engaging with it, you'll scarcely notice.
Did you know
- TriviaHazel Penwarden receives an "introducing" credit.
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 20m(80 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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