Lance Comfort directed some pretty distinctive films in the 1940s ("Hatter's Castle"(1941) etc) but after the commercial failure of "Portrait of Clare" (1950) he was soon relegated to Bs. He found himself in demand, even doing a TV series "Douglas Fairbanks Presents", because he managed to make even his most insignificant films stand out usually by making his main characters a little naïve or gullible. This was certainly the case with this movie, adapted from the book "To Dusty Death" by Hugh McCutcheon and with a plot line lifted from the vastly superior and believable "Home By Seven" (1952). In this one Richard Logan (William Franklyn) stumbles into his flat after being found groggy and dazed in a local wasteground by a young boy. He thinks he is late by a few hours but distraught wifey Julie (Moira Redmond) informs him that he has been missing for three weeks!! She is understandably frantic and has already linked him to his comely secretary. It may be Franklyn's demeanour but wow, he sure looks shifty, especially when he is busy denying knowledge of good time girl Mavis (pretty Jacqueline Jones looks very fetching) who is forever ringing Julie and demanding to speak to Richard. Another worry is a private investigator hired by Julie and whose card turns up in Richard's pocket - he has been found dead and Richard can't be certain whether he killed him in those three lost weeks!!
Then there is "the song" - "My Heart is the Lover", one of those dreary songs that often turned up in these type of movies and sung by nondescript singer Ronny Hall. Only problem is - it is used as a plot device so harassed Richard begins hearing it everywhere he goes - Julie even plays it when they're having breakfast!! And did I mention he also has the strange feeling he is being followed. Every time he comes home he looks as though he has been roughed up and I'm sorry, Julie isn't buying the old "I fell over" routine. He soon realises he had been kidnapped by a gang who want him to break into one of his own safes to steal a priceless diamond and he was coshed when he tried to escape - fortunately for the crooks he lost all recollection of his entrapment. By the time his memory returns (through hailing a cab) he has already pieced together the facts that it is an inside job!!
Beautiful Nanette Newman is almost the one bright spot - her Mary is coolly 1960's chic, she is his efficient secretary but surely she couldn't be involved!! She is engaged to resident teddy boy, the charmless Ted (Anthony Booth, soon to be cast in classic British comedy "Till Death Us Do Part" and also the father of former P.M. Tony Blair's wife Cherie) - he has a chip on his shoulder and for some odd reason seems to despise Logan. This is a solid little thriller distributed by the lowly Butcher Company which was the oldest film company in Britain, starting out in 1909 with training documentaries.
Then there is "the song" - "My Heart is the Lover", one of those dreary songs that often turned up in these type of movies and sung by nondescript singer Ronny Hall. Only problem is - it is used as a plot device so harassed Richard begins hearing it everywhere he goes - Julie even plays it when they're having breakfast!! And did I mention he also has the strange feeling he is being followed. Every time he comes home he looks as though he has been roughed up and I'm sorry, Julie isn't buying the old "I fell over" routine. He soon realises he had been kidnapped by a gang who want him to break into one of his own safes to steal a priceless diamond and he was coshed when he tried to escape - fortunately for the crooks he lost all recollection of his entrapment. By the time his memory returns (through hailing a cab) he has already pieced together the facts that it is an inside job!!
Beautiful Nanette Newman is almost the one bright spot - her Mary is coolly 1960's chic, she is his efficient secretary but surely she couldn't be involved!! She is engaged to resident teddy boy, the charmless Ted (Anthony Booth, soon to be cast in classic British comedy "Till Death Us Do Part" and also the father of former P.M. Tony Blair's wife Cherie) - he has a chip on his shoulder and for some odd reason seems to despise Logan. This is a solid little thriller distributed by the lowly Butcher Company which was the oldest film company in Britain, starting out in 1909 with training documentaries.