Leofwine_draca BLIND COMFORT is an engaging little B-picture that acts as another version of the 'blind person in peril' sub-genre. It's a film that benefits from fine leading performances from William Sylvester - utterly convincing as the blind and embittered husband - and Barbara Shelley as his adulterous wife. As is so often the case with such films, Shelley is desperate to get her hands on her husband's fortune so concocts a murder plot with the aid of her lover.Most of the film takes place in a single location, a lavish penthouse apartment with a balcony overlooking the city. I wonder if this was an inspiration for the recent B-movie PENTHOUSE NORTH which had almost exactly the same setting and was also about a blind person terrorised in her own home.The script is well written and well paced, with plenty of material to fill up the running time. It manages to successfully pull the rug out from under the viewer's feet on at least one occasion, and even if you think you know how this one's going to play out, there are still surprises in store. I found that Sylvester gave a very sympathetic performance without ever overdoing the sentiment, while Shelley plays a very different kind of character from those we know in her Hammer pictures. I found her completely despicable, the most horrible character of her career. BLIND CORNER was directed by veteran director Lance Comfort, who would go on to direct Sylvester again in the following year's horror picture, DEVILS OF DARKNESS.

morrison-dylan-fan With Fathers Day coming up I started looking round for movies that my dad would enjoy. Speaking to a DVD seller,I found out that they had recently tracked down a Film Noir starring Hammer Horror Queen Barbara Shelley,which led to me shaking hands with the man in the dark.The plot:Whilst he has written hit singles since becoming blind, Anne Gregory finds everything her husband Paul does to agitate her,with Paul turning to drink when the music fails to play his tune.Crossing paths, Anne begins having an affair with artist Rickie Seldon-who Anne openly kisses in front of the blind Paul.Finding Paul to be getting closer to uncovering the truth,Anne uses her charms on Rickie to hatch a plan to blind Paul off the face of the earth.View on the film:Despite the ending slipping into the optimism of Film Gris,the screenplay by James Kelley/Vivian Kemble & Peter Miller compose a toe-tapping Film Noir,which makes blind Paul be the only one able to clearly see Anne's mind games in sight.Playing away from home,the writers give Anne and Seldon's affair a playful mood that turns sour with every hard shot Paul takes.Lingering in the shadows,director Lance Comfort and cinematographer Basil Emmott give the title a twitchy Film Noir mood,as a fight breaking out in total darkness allows Seldon to stylishly experience Paul's blindness. Slithering across the screen,the alluring Barbara Shelley gives a great performance as Anne,whose up-beat mood Shelley breaks with a femme fatale smirk hinting at Anne's poisonous plans. Slugging drinks back, William Sylvester gives a terrific performance as Paul,thanks to Sylvester shaking Paul's blunt Film Noir bitterness and the desire to fight on for the Film Gris,as the man in the dark turns on the lights.

malcolmgsw By coincidence I was reading the iconography of Lance Comfort in the British filmmakers series when I came to view this film.Lance Comfort started directing A films in the early 1940s and drifted down to B features and TV work.Difficult to know why.This film came towards the end of his career.It would seem to be more of a co feature than B feature.It is a competently made film on a fairly familiar theme.Namely blind men in jeopardy.Here William Sylvester plays the apparent victim and Barbara Shelley the adulterous wife who wants to get her hands on Sylvesters money without having to bother about a divorce.However her ingenious plan to have Sylvester go wrong in a rather unexpected way.Incidentally there are two numbers by crooner Ronnie Carroll who only died a short time ago.

greensoul7 A nice compact little tale of lust and greed.William Sylvester plays a blind but very successful composer who's wife played by the scheming Barbara Shelley has a lover on the side, an artist played by Alex Davion.Things get complicated when Shelley sends her lover round to bump off her husband to get her hands on his money.But things go badly wrong when Davion is confronted by Sylvester and told the real truth about his wife, "I may be blind but I'm not stupid" claims Sylvester.Meanwhile Sylvester's loving secretary is doing all in her power to get her boss into her arms but he will have none of it, he then sets up his wife and catches her with her real lover who happens to be Sylvester's manager who pro-fuses to hate Sylvester's wife but in fact they are having an affair.Neat little thriller with good performances all round.