Paul Evans As I watched this I kept thinking it reminded me of something Frances Durbridge would write, no mention of his name in the credits, but low and behold, he's the writer. Typical of his work, use of photographs, mistaken identity, and of course the clever sense of misdirection his work was well known for. The film opens with a very dramatic scene, that car going over the edge grabs your attention, and so begins a web of intrigue and suspense. It's very well acted, cleverly written and well paced, on the downside there are some dodgy fight scenes and a horrid, syrupy ending which had no place in this film.The same year a TV series was made, featuring Patrick Barr and Lockwood West, sadly it's missing from the archives. If I'm honest I would think this story would be better suited to a six part TV series, with the deep plot and twists allowed to develop a little slower, less forced. Good, I enjoyed it. 7/10

Khun Kru Mark Pretty good crime caper.It's far from perfect and has some silly bits in it, but this movie is still a pretty good ride. It also has a topnotch cast of British and American actors to distract nicely from some otherwise hamfisted fight scenes, a rather muddled and implausible plot and a cheesy ending.It's a supposedly British film but even though it has UK locations it comes across as a fairly typical American noir. The director, Guy Green, is British but clearly took his cues from America for this one. There is also an uncomfortable and misguided attempt to try to capture the mid-50s London scene.Robert Beatty is well suited to his role and doesn't overdo the wrongly suspected victim. Lots of interesting parts for movie buffs and 'face watchers' to enjoy. Even 'Captain Peacock' (Frank Thornton) from Are You Being Served makes a brief appearance! (Those Sunday nights watching PBS weren't wasted after all, eh?)Like I say, there's a certain amount of silliness but it still holds up nicely because of the crisp pacing and superior acting talent on display.

XhcnoirX Painter Robert Beatty and pilot William Sylvester find out their brother had a fatal carcrash in Italy, killing and burning him and the passenger, model Terry Moore. Police inspector Geoffrey Keen does a routine investigation among known associates looking for a postcard the brother sent right before he died, when Beatty gets an assignment by Moore's dad to paint a portrait of his deceased daughter. Soon after he finishes it someone paints over the face and his last model, Josephine Griffin, is found strangled on his bed, wearing one of Moore's dresses. As Beatty soon finds out, not only is Moore still alive, but his brother's death is linked to a diamond smuggling ring and people close to him are willing to kill for the postcard.The movie is based on a story by Francis Durbridge which was originally adapted into a serial/mini-series for British TV, but (with a different cast & crew) also turned into this movie, which happened with several of this stories. While the death and 'resurrection' of Terry Moore ('Shack Out On 101', and still working!) as well as Beatty's ('Odd Man Out') personal connection to her portrait might remind of 'Laura' (I imagine this bit was expanded upon a bit in the serial), the movie as a whole does not. It is a rather nice noir/mystery with a Hitchcock- ian macguffin in the form of the postcard.Maybe because of its serial origins, the movie is jam-packed and moves at a rapid pace, but it never feels rushed. The movie starts with a short but beautifully done pre-credits carcrash scene, and the cinematography throughout by Wilkie Cooper ('Mine Own Executioner', Hitchcock's 'Stage Fright') is atmospheric and even striking at times. Second-time director, and former DoP himself, Guy Green ('House Of Secrets') does a good job of not rushing the movie. He also co-wrote the screenplay (with another Britnor director, Ken Hughes), I imagine they trimmed quite a bit. They're also helped by the solid cast, who make the more illogical parts and actions of the plot & characters seem believable.The main negative to the story is that the mastermind of the smuggling ring is too easy to determine through basic process of elimination. But other than that, I really enjoyed this movie. More than solid and definitely will re-watch this again. Recommended! 8/10

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** British film noir having to do with a mysterious postcard sent from Italy that's responsible, in trying to get their hands on it, for some half dozen murders. It's American in London artist Tim Forrester,Robert Beatty, who realizes the importance of the mysterious and missing, in the mail, postcard in that it was sent to him by his brother interpol agent Lou Forrester just before he was killed with a woman hitchhiker in a car crash outside Milan city limits. The shocking news was relaid to Tim by his kid brother commercial pilot Dave Forrester, William Sylvester, who was the last person to see him before his fatal accident.In trying to find out the circumstances behind his brother and hitchhiker's, said to be actress Alison not actor Harrison Ford, deaths Tim soon realizes that there was foul play involved in their so-called car accident! Things get even stranger when the model Jill Stewart, Josephine Griffin,who was posing for Tim is found strangled in his loft making him the #1 suspect in her murder. What makes thing even wilder is that the hitchhiker who supposedly was killed in the car accident together with Lou actress Alison Ford, Terry Moore, turned up alive in London and in fact was the person who discovered the murdered model Jill Stewart's body!****SPOILERS**** All these murders turned out to be connected to a postcard, of a wine bottle, that Lou Forrester sent to his brother Tim just before he was killed. It's discovered on that postcard with invisible ink and under under ultra violet light that Lou listed the members of a diamond smuggling ring that's working out of London that brother Dave is a part of! This leads the police as well as Tim to the person behind all this smuggling and murder known only as "Nightingale". It was "Nightengale" coming out of the shadows or closet in order to silence those, like Tim & Alison, who were on to him that caused his sudden demise. That by him trying to be so overcautious in his operations he in the end blew his cover in trying to murder Alison, that he met back in Italy, whom he thought could connect him with the jewel smuggling ring that he was in charge of. She couldn't but Lou's mysterious postcard certainly could and did!