rstef1
This is an example of a movie where some judicious editing would have helped immeasurably.The first half is an interesting whodunit in which Tomas, a Bohemian detective (well played by Martin Dejdar), attempts to determine the true story behind the death of a servant in the Ravenscroft mansion. His interaction with the mistress of the house, her daughter and governess, and the servants is amusingly prickly for about an hour. Unfortunately, impatience begins to set in when this same cat and mouse, back and forth continues on for another 40 minutes with all parties lying for their own reasons. To make matters worse, the scriptwriter has the inspector become increasingly drunk, an unnecessary plot turn that derails the tone set in the first half and which struck me as being distinctly out of character for Tomas. Ultimately, the resolution is not interesting enough to warrant the time and effort spent reaching it.There are good performances from the whole cast, though top billed O'Toole is in the film only very briefly in flashbacks as the deceased patriarch. The set design and camera work are wonderful, top honors to art direction. Unfortunately, these positives are counterbalanced by an overlong tale muddled by useless plot contrivances.
whoinsamhill-1
Who done what can be answered thus: Lost man searches for his truth and finds it, with the help of five Manor ladies. The rest of the who done whats serve only to help the lost soul find his truth.In response to an earlier comment panning the script let me say this:"The toast of Vienna, there, we all know Patrick was sleeping with her." "I'm a good dancer." "Don't take that tone with me!" "Inspecting Inspector?" "I don't like foreigners."This to me is the best of all possible scripts!I have seen the movie thirty times (Walgreen's special) and still don't understand the metaphor of the wolves! But I know what I like. "What is the second coffin for?" "I didn't know Scotland yard accepted checks." "I didn't expect someone with such a dusky hue."My favorite movie of all time! The Manor
irish23
This is one of those pictures where I find myself asking, "Why did so-and-so take this role?" The script is so-so and the direction bizarre at times. The actors are great, working their way through a not-completely-compelling whodunit. The lead character is a Scotland Yard detective and therefore Must Ask Questions. A *lot* of questions. So there is a repeated pattern of question-answer, question-answer that gets grating after a while. As noted, the actors (especially Greta Scacchi) do a remarkable job of lifting this poor writing off the page and infusing it with wit and meaning.Altogether I found it an odd film, trying desperately not to be a play (with bizarre editing) instead of just embracing its intimacy. The "mystery" gets buried beneath the direction but it might be something to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon when you're sick in bed.
darkstar-26
I stumbled on this little gem at its Santa Barbara debut. This film is a beautifully shot period piece, very cleverly written and well-directed. I'm looking forward to seeing it again when it comes to an independent theatre in L.A. Peter O'Toole is spellbinding and masterful. Everyone was well-cast. I especially enjoyed Edie McClurg as the cook. How refreshing to see a very intelligent, almost all-woman cast. Bravo to Ken Berris for this quality film!
AD
