This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Let's be realistic.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

If you are watching a mystery or suspense film, the most important element is the finale--the portion where you learn the truth. Unfortunately, the picture falls apart a bit there...just a bit.When the film begins, a man's old girlfriend shows up years later. By now, he's married and his wife is not exactly thrilled he was talking to this lady. But the husband was innocent of anything...just saying hello to a woman who called to him. Later, at home, the wife continues to pester him about the lady...good-naturedly at first. But when it turns into a nasty row, he leaves. Soon, the husband is getting a head wound sewn up--from the object the wife threw at him during the argument! But his troubles have only just begun, however, as the woman he was talking to at the beginning of the film is dead. Someone murdered her and all the circumstantial evidence points to him! So, it's up to the wife to track down some leads...perhaps she can shed light on what really happened. Unfortunately, she might also find the real murderer...and then what's she to do?!The film was very good and taut. My only problem is that during the big confrontation scene on the train at the end, the woman NEVER yelled for help and knew her life was in danger. Now I have heard British folks are quite polite...but no one is THAT polite! Still, a snappy little film and one worth seeing. Just a shame the end wasn't written a bit more tightly.

As I scrolled down a list of Ronald Neame's movie credits prior to compiling this little review, I was struck again by the unbridled excellence of his filmography. Ebullient successes such as 'Major Barbara' and 'Blithe Spirit' were photographed by him, and he would go on to direct such involving and memorable movies as 'The Man Who Never Was' and 'Gambit'. Having honed his skills behind the camera while working with the cream of British movie-making talent, Neame made the transition to the director's chair in 1947 with 'Take My Life'.And what a brilliant first-up effort it proves to be! This fast-paced and deftly-directed thriller sees Greta Gynt travelling to Scotland in an attempt to clear her husband, Hugh Williams, of the murder of an old flame of his. With Neame directing and Guy Green photographing the movie, it is a real triumph pictorially. As a prestige production of GFD/Cineguild, one would expect the polished feel that is evident. The movie is further elevated, however, by a stylish and imaginative script and uniformly excellent performances. Gynt and Williams offer refreshing sparkle on-screen and imbue their characters with admirable depth. Marius Goring, as the killer, is brooding and calculated and he fills the screen with a sense of foreboding menace. Some of the later suspense-filled scenes in the school call to mind Neame's background in cinematography. Several wonderfully expressionistic scenes are realised as Gynt searches for evidence of the dead girl, and engages in a game of cat-and-mouse with Goring amongst the deserted corridors and rooms of the empty school and then on the train back to England. The sense of moody desperation evoked in the last reel deserves special praise.This confident and consistently exciting thriller shows what a fantastic film-maker Ronald Neame was. He demonstrates a smooth narrative style and expertly ramps up a thrilling level of suspense, despite the fact that the murderer is known to the audience from an early stage. 'Take My Life' is a movie that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Made in that wartime and post-war black and white era when British movies at least looked good, employed fine character actors and dressed the cast glamorously. Greta Gynt may not be the world's greatest actress but she makes the most of her deadpan, slightly skewed beauty and nasal, refined voice. (Was English her first language?)She convinces least as the star of a ghastly modern opera (music by William Alwyn) in this tale of a man wrongly accused of murder.There's not much suspense. We know from the start that Marius Goring dunnit. And it's always good to see Rosalie Crutchley, who was quite a dish in her day. xxxx

Nicholas Talbot is the husband and manager of wealthy opera singer Phillipa Shelley. Tensions in the marriage are raised when Nicholas meets Elizabeth, an old flame, after a show. Hours later Elizabeth is killed at her flat with Nicholas not having an alibi. On trial for murder he looks to be heading for certain imprisonment – but Phillipa starts following her own clues in an attempt to uncover the truth.I didn't have a clue what this was about until I watched it – so I had no preconceptions about it. It seemed to start well enough as the stall was laid out and clues were shown. However it quickly became dull and only really got better when the wife started looking for clues herself. However the thing that actually helps her find the real killer is such an absurd plot twist that it's more silly than anything else. The final 10 minutes are good but can't make this anything more than a dull mystery.The cast are quite good but don't really have any character. I thought the fat lawyer character would play a bigger role and potentially have character a la Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution, however he didn't. Similarly the accused and his wife are quite cardboard.Overall it's not terrible but it has nothing whatsoever that will stay in your memory. Not really worth watching.