GREEN FOR DANGER is a delightful and subtlety quirky, but still serious whodunit
set in a British country hospital during World War II. The war backdrop is
especially interesting because throughout the movie
V1 flying bombs
cruise overhead. You could hear the V1's rocket and right before they hit the
rocket would cut off and put it into a steep dive. So that meant when you heard
the silence kick in you better get to cover quick! I thought that was a
really inventive way to create tension.
The film starts off like a soap opera, with the different romantic dramas of the
various nurses and doctors, but then a patient dies as he's being prepped for
surgery. The only people present were the six main characters (two doctors and
four nurses). An investigation is called for and rumors swirl that it was
murder. That night at a party a nurse outright says that it was murder in front
of everybody and a few minutes later she's stabbed to death! Scotland Yard sends
in Inspector Cockrill to solve the case. He's a droll, quirky older gentleman
who thinks he's way smarter than he actually is (he even accidentally causes
another death during the course of his investigation!) and whose main
means of investigation is keeping all of the suspects extremely agitated.
Not the greatest mystery, but an enjoyable time waster with good performances
and a satisfying ending.
Showing posts with label Trevor Howard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trevor Howard. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
THE NIGHT VISITOR (1971)
THE NIGHT VISITOR opens with a nighttime shot of a old frozen seaside fort(?)
that's now being used as a insane asylum. Suddenly a figure comes running
across the rocky, snow covered coast. He's wearing nothing but his
underwear and a pair of boots. It's Max von Sydow and he looks totally
miserable. Half-frozen and bluer than Papa Smurf's penis he scampers
through the woods and to an isolated farmhouse. He breaks in and spies on
the residents...then it's time for a little murder and a return trip to the
insane asylum wear he breaks back in. What could the point of all
this be?
The first act of THE NIGHT VISITOR was great, filled with mystery and tension, but then you get into the police investigation part (lead by Trevor Howard) and it all falls apart. The cops have two suspects in the murders: Max and a local doctor (played by Per Oscarsson). All they have to do is hide a guard outside of Max's cell door and another outside the doctor's house and the case would be solved, but no...instead they let the murders continue and only react afterwards.
The story might've had holes all through it, but the cast was a real treat. Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow are two of my favorite actors, so them plus Trevor Howard and Per Oscarsson...well, I was about as happy as a movie lover could be, even with the overly complicated story.
The first act of THE NIGHT VISITOR was great, filled with mystery and tension, but then you get into the police investigation part (lead by Trevor Howard) and it all falls apart. The cops have two suspects in the murders: Max and a local doctor (played by Per Oscarsson). All they have to do is hide a guard outside of Max's cell door and another outside the doctor's house and the case would be solved, but no...instead they let the murders continue and only react afterwards.
The story might've had holes all through it, but the cast was a real treat. Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow are two of my favorite actors, so them plus Trevor Howard and Per Oscarsson...well, I was about as happy as a movie lover could be, even with the overly complicated story.
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