Since having found Michael Powell's Film Noir Rynox (which is now his "first" surviving film-also reviewed)) to be very gripping,I started to search around everywhere online in the hope of finding one of Powell's other "lost" films. After running into some dead ends,I finally ended up getting my hands on this 1936 mystery Film Noir that Michael Powell had made with Hugh Williams.(who in the same year starred in another now- rare Powell film called Her Last Affaire.)
Whilst time has left this movie badly damaged,this is still a pretty enjoyable and interesting Gothic mystery Noir.
View on the film:
The first main thing which has to be said about the film,is that whilst it was originally brought out in the UK as a 79 minute film,the only known surviving print of this adaptation of a Jacques Futerelle novel called The Case of the Golden Plate is a 56 minute "American cut",that causes some big sections of the film to go very "jumpy" in its plot lines.
Whilst the interesting-looking screenplay sadly suffers from having big parts of it pulled out of existences,Michael Powell's directing impressively still makes this a pretty enjoy able film,with Powell displaying a surprisingly Gothic influence that makes the scenes of Nick battling a Femme Fatale in a disused building that's engulfed in shadows as a particularly striking part of the film.
Along with the Gothic side,Powell also gives some low budget nods to Fritz Lang's Metropolis (also reviewed) by having two very strange characters dress up as if they are about to practice for the film,and also sometimes talking as two mad scientist's.
Whilst time has left this movie badly damaged,this is still a pretty enjoyable and interesting Gothic mystery Noir.
View on the film:
The first main thing which has to be said about the film,is that whilst it was originally brought out in the UK as a 79 minute film,the only known surviving print of this adaptation of a Jacques Futerelle novel called The Case of the Golden Plate is a 56 minute "American cut",that causes some big sections of the film to go very "jumpy" in its plot lines.
Whilst the interesting-looking screenplay sadly suffers from having big parts of it pulled out of existences,Michael Powell's directing impressively still makes this a pretty enjoy able film,with Powell displaying a surprisingly Gothic influence that makes the scenes of Nick battling a Femme Fatale in a disused building that's engulfed in shadows as a particularly striking part of the film.
Along with the Gothic side,Powell also gives some low budget nods to Fritz Lang's Metropolis (also reviewed) by having two very strange characters dress up as if they are about to practice for the film,and also sometimes talking as two mad scientist's.
