Pretty Good

Powerful

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

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It was issued by Columbia I suppose on a double bill which accounts for the cuts. The beginning is cut and the chase is cut and there are small cuts throughout. the cuts might be alright if you dont see the original - once you do you'll understand how vile Columbia were. basically it was a louis b. mayer tribute film.

I am not quite happy about this film - it's too much of a cliché patchwork, like a good but nevertheless obvious paraphrase on Hitchcock. There is nothing wrong with Jean Simmons and Trevor Howard, they are both always reliable in any film they played in, and I don't think they worked together in any other film. It all starts very well and interestingly with a failed secret agent stranded at the mercy of his sinister employer who can't tolerate one single mistake, turning his failed agent to cataloging butterflies, just to keep him safely out of the way. Unfortunately for him, a murder occurs in his vicinity, and the one who is obviously totally innocent and incapable of it comes under suspicion because of her rumoured mental instability. Jean Simmons makes this character quite convincing and interesting, demonstrating openly her weakness without blushing, and Trevor appears as the knight in shining armour committing himself to rescuing her by taking her along on a great escape up and down all northern England. It's a spectacular escape indeed, but it obfuscates the more interesting psychology of the relationships turning the film more into a superficial entertainment, with great effects, of course, but when the murderer finally is exposed it all humanly falls flat. It's so obvious that the audience from the beginning has been led astray by being forced to suspect another. Well, well, nevertheless, it's great entertainment, and that at least is something.

I rated this film only 6/10 which agrees with the overall IMDb.com average rating.As other reviewers have aptly pointed out above, this Ralph Thomas directed film does not have the quirky comedy, pace or nail biting finish of a Hitchcock.However It has some similarities enough to show Thomas was at least influenced by that great master.Jean Simmons was 22 when she made this film and was at a stage in her career when agents were casting her in roles where she had psychiatric problems.One only has to think of her "Ophelia" in Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" (1948) and "Angel Face" (1952), the psychotic daughter of Herbert Marshall.Much as I admire Trevor Howard I do not see him as a romantic lead (unless he is wooing Celia Johnson. i.e. an older woman); so I would have preferred a younger looking and more handsome leading man.The final scene (as pointed out above by another reviewer) showed them walking along the rooftops of the Liverpudlian warehouse, arm in arm but it looked more like father and daughter!! (Note: I know Trevor Howard always looked older than he really was).I guess he obtained this cloak & dagger type part on the strength of his army officer cracking down on black market traffickers in Carol Reed's "The Third Man" (1949). Barry Jones often appeared in professorial type roles and he made a menacing "baddy".I love spotting character actors in films of this vintage such as Sam Kydd as a police wireless operator and the actor Richard Wattis who played the employment consultant (the same year he played the maths master in "The Happiest Days of Your Life" with Alistair Sim).Also I spotted Dandy Nichols as a harassed mother on the train, long before she would rise into public awareness as Mrs Garnett in the 60s TV comedy series " 'Till Death Do Us Part" with Warren Mitchell.Kenneth More was really serving his film acting apprenticeship and before long he would play a lead in "Genevieve" (1953).Have a look at Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" (1935) with Robert Donat & Madeleine Carroll and particularly compare the chase scenes over the wild countryside, then compare the pacing, humour and interplay between the principal actors and you will see why this film ,although good, only warrants a 6/10.

A delightful little thriller opens with Trevor Howard in his Jag convertible and ends on a dockside in Liverpool. It's all thrills and spills as the ex-spy has to restart his career just as he's getting some serious R & R cataloguing butterflies (how British is that?).Trevor Howard and Jean Simmons frolic from London to Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Liverpool (via Ullswater) - he's just been thrown out of MI5 or something, and she, you guessed it, is on the run, wrongly accused of murder. There's seedy docks, rolling Lake District hills, sheep, country pubs, coppers getting lost, waterfalls, a bunch of amateur cyclists, rooftop chases, and lots of Chinamen (don't ask), and it's all very Hitchcocky and Hannayesque.....and a smashing example of British Noir...