ihshils-649-173072 Although this is less than a minor "noir", with poor acting, the story has an unsuspected twist (which I won't reveal). It contains some of the elements of "noir", but falls short. The main male character does become involved with a beautiful women who lures him into a fatal situation, but it is poorly done and contains many of the errors described in other reviews. I also noted the odd arm bands worn by the MP's One can always cite this film in a discussion of B (or C) movies. "Body Heat" and "Double Indemnity"(mentioned by others above) are successful. This one is OK for a few minutes while doing some exercise on your stationary bike or treadmill.

filmalamosa Basically a dud. An unhappy wife married to an older alcoholic husband convinces an American army officer to help her kill her husband and make it look like an accident.Several flaws: the army officer should have been a lot younger it would have been much better if he had been in his twenties same age as wife rather instead of early 40s and stodgy looking to boot.The set is atrocious especially the inside of the house with bamboo and nautical rope themes ugghhhh....especially as you are expecting an English manor house from the driveway up to it.One curious flaw... the MPs have PMs written on their caps--is this the British system? But they were Americans at an American base.Avoid this thing. There is no suspense to speak of and it has incredibly cheap production values...the accident was in no way suspenseful. Nothing about it was suspenseful.DO NOT RECOMMEND

MartinHafer Whether the film makers would admit this or not, this film is re-make of the classic film "Double Indemnity" (1944)...a relatively bland one. So, my question is--why not, then, just watch the original film?! The film is set in the United Kingdom. A pretty young lady is married to an older and abusive drunk. He is no prize, so you certainly sympathize for the lady--and so does an American office who is stationed nearby. He sees firsthand what sort of a nasty piece of work the husband is...and that makes him vulnerable to the wife. Why? Well, because she's also pretty horrible..and plans manipulating him into killing the husband. Can they get away with it and how will it all end?! Well, if you've seen the earlier film, you kind of have the idea...I gave this film a 5 simply because although is not at all original, the plot is a good one. Too bad the acting is pretty poor and the production looks so cheap. At its best, it's only pedestrian. My recommendation is this one only if you are a film noir nut or you like poor remakes.

fordraff Caution: Contains spoilers.If someone had written the script for a film noir from a computer template, this is the sort of film that would have emerged.Strictly formula: A young attractive wife, Laura Wilton, is married to Tom Wilton, a wealthy man about twenty years her senior whom she married for his money. Tom, an alcoholic, physically and verbally abuses Laura and feels that her duty should be to keep the house in order and serve him.Enter Dave Dillon, a handsome American Army officer from a nearby base. In no time, Laura and Dave have begun an affair, and she has enticed him into a plot to kill Tom.They will dispatch Tom in an accident, made to look as if it resulted from Tom's drunken driving. According to formula, their plot doesn't go quite as planned. Nonetheless, Tom ends up dead.Then, also according to formula, the accident is investigated, in this case by an obese Inspector O'Flynn. Soon he "smells a rat" and furthers his investigation. Laura and Dave say and do the wrong things; they begin to distrust each other. Finally, Laura tells Inspector O'Flynn some lies that throws suspicion on Dave.Then, according to formula, Dave discovers that Laura is about to depart for Italy with the chauffeur she'd been having an affair with before Dave happened on the scene. Tom Wilton had fired the chauffeur, saying it wasn't seemly that Laura and he should be seen driving about the countryside together. Tom may also have suspected that Laura and the chauffeur were having an affair.At the film's conclusion, Laura and Tom meet an end that satisfied both the U.S. Production Code and the British Censor Board.All of this happens in 68 tight minutes.Although it follows the classic American noir formula, the film is British. Don't think English county house, however, for the exterior of the Wilton home is very much 50s California Moderne. This is momentarily surprising. After watching Dave Dillon go up a typical English driveway, I was expecting to see a home on the order of Manderlay, but instead got this white modern one. The film does have its share of scenes filmed with the usual American light and shadow of noir.The cast behaves perfunctorily. Of interest here is Anne Heywood early in her career. But she doesn't generate any of the heat of a classic femme fatale like Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity" or Jane Greer in "Out of the Past." Indeed, there are no sparks between her and leading man, Robert Arden.Robert Arden plays Dave Dillon. He was American-born but gave up a singing career to play in British films. His credit list is undistinguished. Here he bears a remarkable similarity to Fred MacMurray, albeit a bit heaver than MacMurray was in his prime.Basil Dignam plays the drunken husband; he shows a fine profile and looks like the aging Leslie Nielsen. Denis Shaw plays the overweight detective.The film did hold my interest; there is narrative thrust. And there is some fun in seeing from what classic American noirs the filmmakers stole. Check out those sunglasses on Heywood when she lies down under the sunlamp. Very much like the ones Stanwyck wore in "Double Indemnity."I could recommend this film only to die-hard film noir fans who just must see every noir ever made.