dmjh64

A screen version of a stage-play that leavens the studio interior work with plenty of location footage centred on the "big house" in Hertfordshire used in several other contemporary Hammer films made in the early '50s. The house still stands (2019) but has been converted to apartments, while the grounds are soon to be filled with thousands of houses. The railway-station glimpsed in the level-crossing scene is still in use on a busy now-electrified main line: the manually-operated crossing-gates were replaced long-ago with the modern remotely-operated type.

The plot doesn't amount to much but the picture still manages to stay watchable: the actors do their best with the "B-picture" material. An odd if minor, thing about the film is that it appears elsewhere on the Web as having been released in 1950, rather than in 1951 (March).

Bernie-81's review mentioned a possible 'nod' from the producers of this film to the Warner Brothers' "Casablanca" which was also released in 1942. I think it's more likely that the use of a twin-finned mock-up aircraft in "Goose's opening aerodrome scene bearing the markings "G-AFGN" was an ironic reference to the use of a real, aircraft bearing that registration by the British prime-minister to visit Germany in 1938 for negotiations with Hitler. Some in the audience would have recognised the significance of "G-AFGN" even if it wasn't relevant to the Hay picture. The prop Lockheed airliner seen in "The Goose..." may have been used in other pictures but not by the Warner studio out in California.

Sad to read that the "Crane" series has been all but wiped out of existence, like the early "Avengers": anything in black-and-white format must have been considered not worth keeping after colour came in."Crane" was panned by the critic of one daily newspaper (probably the "Daily Express") who said they should have 'lowered the boom' on it. Allen always seemed to play the same, two-dimensional,blustering/ bullying,authority-types-trapped by his voice and square-jawed looks-but he filled a niche and stayed around and he's hard to forget.Suave, forgotten, Gerald Flood was a good actor, probably better than Allen, but was not so lucky in having to take the 'ten-a-penny' 'supporting-part" roles that he didn't deserve to be stuck with.Sam Kydd was always Sam Kydd and seemed to be forever in demand for playing those surly/chirpy,below-decks characters: a pity about his early death.