LeonLouisRicci Not bad, but aside from the "surprise" last denouement, quite an unremarkable period piece. A heavy bit of Melodrama with some interesting Dialog exchanges. It all seems rather confined and is not as much gloomy as it is less roomy.Things are strung together with as much threading as necessary but it does seem to ramble a bit and is lesser for it. The suspense suffers as things can get a bit talky with much ado about drinking and fortunes.But it is Worth a Watch for its sums are better than the parts and it comes together nicely, if suddenly, and makes the experience worthwhile. There are some offbeat Characters and some nice interplay, but in the end it could have used more tension and less talk.

st-shot Man with a Cloak has an impressive roster of performers but somehow they fail to jell as a team to make for a winning film. Usually Joseph Cotton and Barbara Stanwyck shine in these dark ambiguous roles but here they fail to connect like the rest of the cast who also seem disconnected from each other. It's as if they are still in rehearsal working on their parts and oblivious to everyone else. Wealthy Charles Tavernier (Louis Calhearn) is near death. Loyal but fed up housekeepers await the day to collect the inheritance they feel they so richly deserve. Enter Madeline Minot (Leslie Caron) from Paris who tries to persuade Tavernier to leave his money to his grandson and her fiancé. On the periphery but soon inveigling his way into the drama Dupin a mysterious poet takes up the cause of Minot as Tavernier starts to circle the drain.Stanwyck as the plotting housekeeper gives a nice icy performance in attempting to outwit Minot and Dupin. As things begin to unravel she retains her cool pushing around fellow conspirators and undermining Tavernier's health. Cotton is miscast as the poet more in search of a drink than a sonnet. He lacks the carefree nature of a free spirit and is more smug than charming as the protagonist. Caron is a dour GiGi, Margaret Wycherly steals every scene she utters a word and Calhearn walks off with the acting honors as the withering Tavernier.Director Fletcher Markle and cameraman George Folsey serve up a few William Wyler deep focus moments with some revealing compositions but they never build up enough steam to sustain the whole film or heighten tension before capping things off with a silly denouement that reveals to the audience they have wasted their time.

randwolfray Thank goodness for TCM, because every once in a while we catch a forgotten gem not yet available on DVD, and this is one of those. Sure it's a somewhat lightweight film, but it has its heavy moments, and sometimes you don't feel like watching "War and Peace," you just want something entertaining and substantive enough to keep you watching. I thoroughly enjoyed this.The setting in 1848 New York was interesting. I like stories with time periods and settings not usually thought of. When you mention the 1800s most Americans are thinking cowboys and Indians and the Old West, or else the Civil War. Yet there were whole regions and eras in our country's history not usually covered that surely are brimming with stories.Some have criticized the movie for its stilted dialog, but hey, that's the way upper crust people talked back then. Just try reading a book written in 1848 by a more cultured author, and you'll see what I mean. I found it interesting to listen to. The cast was great, too. I have never thought of Joseph Cotten as a particularly handsome actor, but that mustache made him look rather dashing! He should have worn it more often. And then there's Jim Backus... Ususally stereotyped as Mr. Magoo or Thurston Howell III, here he showed us his depth as an actor by making the serious character of Flaherty seem so real and natural.There's a murder in this mystery, but it's not at all what you would think. There are several plot twists that. while not spectacular, are still suspenseful and entertaining. You may or may not be caught by surprise by the revelation at the end, but many viewers will be. I highly recommend this film and hope it is soon available on DVD.

blanche-2 Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern, and Leslie Caron star in "The Man with a Cloak," a 1951 thriller set in 1848 New York. A young woman (Caron) comes to New York to get money for her boyfriend's political cause from his grandfather (Calhern). Grandpa is in the clutches of his ex-girlfriend turned housekeeper (Stanwyck) and a surly butler (Joe De Santis) who are waiting for the old man to die so they can get his money. The Caron character thinks they are trying to kill him, so she appeals to an apparent ne'er do well who hangs at the local bar, Dupin (Cotten) for help.This is a slow-moving story for sure, but Cotten has some great dialogue nonetheless. Stanwyck looks beautiful and is very good as the duplicitous woman. Alas, these are film careers on the wane, as evidenced by the smallness of the film. Caron is quite young and appealing, and of course, her star would go up and up. The ending has a twist that is quite fun. I have no idea if it's historically preposterous or not, but this movie needed a kick and it was a good one. Certainly worth seeing for its stars.