The Limping Man

Though I rated it a 6 I watch it more than some of my other favorite choices. When the plot goes to the music hall theater the song that Helene Cordet ,the magician's assistant, sings while doing the act just knocks me out. Her french accent and slight lisp somehow combine with the music arrangement to just make the movie better for me. Maybe it injects a bit of light humor in a suspense drama. In fact I enjoyed the next musical act about dancing on a big piano keyboard MORE THAN 3 DECADES Before THE MOVIE 'big". But then I always pay attention to musical interludes in movies even though they are suppose to be incidental. I agree with other reviewers about the early cameo bits by Jean Marsh, Rachel Roberts and the Lockeed Constellation. But I frequently find myself putting the movie and going to scene 5 just to hear her sing 'Hey Presto' again. In fact similar music interludes from B movies like MAN FROM CAIRO, CARRY ON SPYING,THE RAWHIDE YEARS,GIRLS AT SEA, make me wish that the soundtracks for audio use were available.

The Limping Man is one of a large number of competent British mysteries made in the '50's and featuring American actors in leading roles. In this one, it's Lloyd Bridges who stars. He is always credible and enjoyable to watch, but, in this feature, has too little to do. He is cast as an American who returns to London many years after the war to see his old girlfriend. Once there, a man standing next to him on the tarmac is gunned down by a sniper. He soon learns that there is a connection between the victim and his girlfriend. A web of intrigue unevenly unfolds. While the film does not fall into any predictable pattern of clichés, neither does it fit neatly together into the satisfying structure one expects of a good taut British mystery. Moira Lister lacks the appeal necessary to make the part of the girlfriend interesting, and she just doesn't click with Bridges. Helene Cordet as a decorative French entertainer also leaves one cold. (More interesting, though, in a bit part, is a young Jean Marsh.) All in all, it's middling double-feature fare, but well worth seeing if you like the genre.

Convoluted murder mystery. So who shot Kendall Brown from a distance as he was exiting a London airport. It wasn't Frank Prior (Bridges) who gets involved through happenstance, which wouldn't have happened if girlfriend Pauline (Lister) had met him at the airport as she was supposed to. Then there's singer Helene (Cordet) who's also implicated, that is, when she's not performing in a magic act. Anyhow, Scotland Yard's on the case, so the limping culprit better watch out. At least that's the way things appear.

Bridges fans like myself may be disappointed since his role is clearly secondary to Lister's and somewhat incidental to the plot. It may be that director Endfield did him an employment favor since both were targets of the Hollywood blacklist. After all, they had worked together brilliantly on the gripping Sound Of Fury (1950). There're a number of nice touches. I especially chuckled over the randy young police inspector (Phillips) when he trades meaningful looks with the busty landlady's daughter (Marsh). It's amusingly done. Also, the magician's act is novel accompaniment to Helene's singing. Too bad, however, we don't get a better look at the effects that pass by unhighlighted.

I'm guessing the bummer ending was because the plot's complexity made tying up all the loose ends darn difficult. Anyway, it's a pretty good time passer, ending or no, with a number of entertaining touches.

In a parody of "The Famous Writers' School" a teacher recommends that no matter what corner you have painted yourself into, literarily, you can always end it with "then I got run over by a truck." In this film the audience is run over by a truck. It takes a nicely orchestrated set of events and cheapens them badly. This is the tale of a man who finds himself in the middle of some intrigue and blackmail. There are nice plot twists all along the way, especially involving the female protagonist who has gotten herself in some big time trouble. Lloyd Bridges is sort of along for the ride. We keep waiting for him to be more than an observer, but he never rises above that. Still I was involved until the moronic ending.

This is a kind of "B" picture but it has a good cast and the story is intriguing enough. It stars Lloyd Bridges and Moira Lister, two good actors. An assassination happens as Frank Prior (Bridges) gets off a plane in London, where he is to see Pauline French (Lister) for the first time in six years, since the war. The person who was assassinated, Kendall Brown, is known to Pauline French and Scotland Yard is on the case. Frank tries to help French in trying to find out how she in involved. The Limping Man of the title is a shadowy figure, which is why I'm calling this a noir film. Its pretty good, but the ending, which I won't divulge, is strange. Its fun to watch up till then and, at 75 minutes, goes by quickly. Obviously not perfect, its good Saturday afternoon watching.