kidboots Beautiful Lelia Goldini looks as though she has just stepped off the cover of a 1965 edition of Vogue!!! This terrific movie was produced by Hammer films in the style of "Charade" (the movie with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant) which happened to be in the style of Hitchcock but was directed by Stanley Donen. Anyway "Hysteria" was directed by Freddie Francis and seemed like it should have been written by Brian Clemens (it was written by Jimmie Sangster who wrote the screenplay of "The Nanny" and a lot of those Hammer chillers from the late 1950s). I didn't know anything about this movie, only that I could vividly remember Robert Weber being the brash Madison Avenue ad man in the original "Twelve Angry Men".Weber plays Chris Smith, also a brash opportunist (maybe a bit of typecasting)!! There is one sequence where he has to get out of France in a hurry so he insinuates himself into the good graces of an English girl who is driving back to Britain (it was definitely Sue Lloyd). She smuggles him out of the country at great risk to herself and he repays her at a service station by.....!!! I kept wondering whether this was the way Britain viewed the Americans in their country and if so they obviously didn't like what they saw.The movie starts out as Weber, an amnesiac victim, grasps for clues to his identity from a patient psychiatrist. A mysterious benefactor is paying for his medical bills and for a luxury penthouse apartment (the estate agency is clearly displayed on a sign, wouldn't it have been easier just to make inquiries off them)?? But no, Chris hires the services of a quirky private detective (Maurice Denham) and when a mysterious beauty (Goldini) keeps appearing, the same girl whose picture was found on Chris and who was, presumably, killed a few weeks before, nobody believes him. There is also the problem of raised voices that Chris hears from the vacant flat, always late at night!!Just when you think you know where the plot is going, Chris's confession turns everything on it's head. Jennifer Jayne as the nurse plays the film's only sympathetic character. This movie has such a swinging sixties London look from the opulent penthouse to Goldini's wardrobe to the offbeat jazz soundtrack.

mike dewey This is by no means an esoteric, deeply psychological thriller, but entertain it does, and well at that. Not an unfamiliar plot thesis here but it is a cleverly laid out amnesia story and suitably paced melodrama with a lot of the usual mid 60's ambiance, including a nicely orchestrated jazz score, (from Don Banks & co.), which ever so deftly weaves in and out of a given scene with subtle acuity. Special kudos to the tenor sax player in the orchestra for his gorgeous musical renderings.It was nice to see the "Hammer" people opt for Robert Webber as the lead here, something he rarely got a chance to do stateside. The other cast members were more than competent in fulfilling the requirements of their respective roles which also helped make for a nice 90 minute flashback to an earlier time. The story itself takes a twist or two in the plot development to keep things interesting.Thanks go to TCM for airing films like this which would probably never be shown anywhere else.

Zipper69 Having just watched this mess on TCM (for the second time) my opinion is unchanged. It's a poor attempt to make a sub-Hitchcock mystery/murder film that misses the mark by a mile.The basic plot of an amnesiac American awaking in a London hospital with no idea who he is or how he got there has genuine possibilities and Robert Webber puts in a sterling performance.But, Oh my! The gaping plot holes allow the film to sink quickly into a visual mess and clichéd dialogue. Let's overlook the Americanism of "I woke in hospital and somebody had paid all the bills"- News Flash, back in '64 the National Health Service actually worked and medical treatment was FREE. In real life he would have contacted the US Embassy and got them researching his identity, but no he uses the keys to the penthouse (a rather chi-chi set out of Times Furnishing..)and accepts all the free wardrobe, gold watch and apparently unlimited food and booze without question.The obligatory "mystery woman" appears and he chases fruitlessly after her but then she in turn pops up in the apartment (how? Did she have a key? Isn't that odd?)and claims to be the widow of the man in the car wreck that started the whole thing. Meanwhile He is haunted by strange headaches, visions and disembodied voices from the next (empty) apartment.SPOILER ALERTMajor plot holes: How did the French whore not only remove his wallet but get it out of the room? What are the odds on a British girl driving a convertible just outside when he escapes the whore's toughs? Overnight he turns the frosty English girl into a love slave willing to do anything for him - must get that technique... Realising it's not a Homeland Security organisation but sneaking into England in the trunk/boot of a car - erm...think Customs just MIGHT look there... The switch into the stranger's Bentley - what line did he spin to get invited to jump in? The poorly setup "accident" - the stereotyped English family, car jacked-up on grass verge, only legs of Husband visible, Wife setting out the picnic on the verge(??) the two kids listlessly throwing a ball backwards and forwards to each other whilst only ten feet apart, the balls is mis-thrown across the road, kid runs after it and has the world's worst fake fall in the middle of the road (car is about a quarter mile away), Wife runs to pick up child, drops bottle in road, car apparently driven by a blind man simply speeds into the middle of this, hits broken glass, blows tyre, skids off road and crashes - we then see the beautiful Bentley convertible transformed into an old junker, on fire (no further sight of Verge Family). The Maurice Denham private eye character apparently follows Webber and the girl out into the country by bicycle, when they drive a Jaguar (we need him for the British Olympic cycle team!)This was rubbish when it was made and time has not improved it.It gets 2 points for having the sexy Jennifer Jayne (although totally wasted).

jamesraeburn2003 Hysteria concluded the trilogy of psychological thrillers that Freddie Francis directed for Hammer. The series began with Paranoiac (1963) and Nightmare (1964). The plot concerns an American amnesia victim Chris Smith (Robert Webber), whom is being used as a tool by the ruthless Dr Keller (Anthony Newlands) and his beautiful mistress (Lelia Goldoni). Between them they plan to frame Chris for the murder of Keller's wife, but their clever plan proves to be their own outdoing. In 1965, it was poorly received by critics and the public, but it's a gripping thriller and Freddie Francis directs the somewhat far fetched script by Jimmy Sangster with pace, building it neatly to it's climax. The black and white Cinematography by John Wilcox manages some decent compositions of a gray and dank 1960's London. The only criticism is the somewhat unsuitable music score by Don Banks, which is too jazzy for this type of film.