Lance Comfort was no bad director, and he made quite a number of very sustained thriller dramas of lasting interest, although it's obvious he never could work with any sufficient budget - most of his films are of the B level, and that's glaringly obvious in this one: almost all scenes, except for a few street scenes in the dark, are indoors in flats, a cellar, the Blue Baboon night club and the cottage way out in the country, which is only used for being blown up. The weakness of this thriller is, like in so many squeezed thrillers, that so many threads are left incomplete. The murder of the blonde, for instance, is just left behind without any further questions or reports, neither in the papers nor by the police. The death of Bruno is also left without any further notice. William Franklyn at least makes a plausible case, he manages well like all the actors, and it's a relief to learn that both the doctor and the wife had nothing to do with the plot. The boy introducing the case is one of the most important parts. It's a great plot up to Lance Comfort's best standard, and he was actually best at making B-films rising up to a higher level, like the excellent "Temptation Harbour" of 1947.
Review of Pit of Darkness
