karbarmusic Interesting post-war British revenge tragedy which, surprisingly, casts Robert Preston as a Canadian anti-hero. Fine acting throughout with Harold Lang, who was to become a charismatic acting coach at RADA, as the bad guy. The Scottish actress, Elizabeth Sellars, is doe-eyed and lovely as the lead actress and Thomas Heathcote excels in a cameo performance. It's also good to see some post-war British film industry stalwarts such as Noel Howlett and George Woodbidge turning in their usual robust performances. The black and white photography is quite magical although the film score is overly dramatic. It's sad to see that this film is quite forgotten: the performances demand greater consideration. An English film noir.

MartinHafer The story in "Cloudburst" is not particularly believable...but that can also be said about MANY movies. However, the film has many unique story elements--and that's something that makes it worth seeing.This British film stars Robert Preston as a Canadian living in the UK. He and his wife are happily in love and life is looking up for them--until, out of the blue, she is fun over by a couple jerks who couldn't care less! Instead of giving the police a correct identification, the husband is determined to investigate the case on his own...and then kill the killers! What makes it really unusual is the savagery of his attacks. It's rather unflinching and brutal. Overall, the film is an interesting example of British film noir--and Preston was very good in the lead.

secondtake Cloudburst (1951)A great title, and a curious, odd little film that is commanding at times and well filmed throughout. And it has some real surprises, so good drama.The big surprise is near the beginning and I don't want to give anything away, but there is a deeply romantic core to the entire movie. This is most of all about a man who loves his wife. Both man and wife are involved in the British top secret code breaking operation of WWII, and the movie begins in fact with a tour of the code-breaking room. But then it shifts to our two leads, the man a hale and handsome Robert Preston, the woman a cute and slightly mysterious Elizabeth Sellars. They're going to have a baby, life looks perfect ahead.But things take a sudden turn, and Preston is off on a solitary manhunt. His lonely quest and his isolation from his friends make this a kind of British film noir, a post-war malaise hanging over the film (it's set in 1946). There is a more than slight improbability to some of the revenge he wreaks (the victims seem a hair willing to just stand there and take it) but if you accept this as just part of the drama, the rest of the film in all its small details is really great, really compelling.In a way, the movie is a metaphor for the whole war, both on the grand scale (hating the Germans) and on a personal level (hating particular crimes, specific deaths). And if retribution occurs, a higher order of justice is inserted, too. And honor, or a sense of doing the right thing based on conscience. Preston pulls off all sides of this dilemma well. He's warm and he's cold, he's smart and he's flawed. And in the end he's sentimental, too. The final reading of the code, once it's broken, is a touching triumph.And what about the character Sellars plays? "My hatred would overwhelm me like a cloudburst," she says, explaining not only the title, but the theme of the movie, retribution from the gut. She inhabits the film very much, but from the opposite side of things than Sellars. As you'll see. The film does move slowly at times. The war is over, that kind of high drama is past, but in its smaller goals it never stutters, it never fails to know what it wants and how to get there.

ksf-2 Poss Spoiler - This post-war-time black & white film from England stars Robert Preston (from films Music Man, Beau Geste) as Robert Graham, a married, WW II veteran. Placed in England in 1946, Cloudburst co-stars Elizabeth Sellars, Colin Tapley, Harold Lang, and Lyn Evans. We are shown right at the beginning that he speaks Japanese, French, Spanish, & Italian, and works in the secret Codes/Decryption office in England. All is well until a couple in a car kills someone close to him during a hit and run, then drives off. Determined to get revenge, he goes in search of them, and the chase is on. There WAS a British film also titled "Cloudburst" from 1922, but IMDb and Wikipedia have almost no information on that one. This 1951 film was from the play by Leo Marks, who really did work in the Coding/Encryption office during WW II. Screenplay and direction by Francis Searle. Interesting dilemma near the end, where two suspects who really ARE guilty of separates crimes deny knowing each other, to avoid prosecution. Will justice be done? The ending can be guessed, if one thinks about it, (but they didn't...) Entertaining story, no giant plot-holes. Also quite good quality sound and lighting, which wasn't always prevalent in British films back then.