Cuckolded Dr. Clive’s back is finally broken by the proverbial straw, so he plans revenge on the old ball-and-chain by using one! Director Edward Dmytryk spins a web of intrigue and tension in this British noir with an intelligent script that eschews the tropes of incompetent police (Bobbies) or high-speed action, which allows the captive’s dilemma to grow more perilous in each scene. The suspense is murder!
Psychiatrist Dr. Clive (Robert Newton) has had enough of his young wife’s lovers, so he has secretly planned the perfect murder of American Bill Kronin (Phil Brown) who is her latest fling. His wife Storm (Sally Gray) only knows that Bill has disappeared and suspects that her husband is responsible, but there is no evidence of his involvement. In reality, Dr. Clive has kidnapped Bill and hidden him in a cellar, in an isolated and bombed-out section of London. Bill is chained to the wall, but the good Dr. keeps him alive by bringing him food and martinis and takes sadistic pleasure in his wife’s growing despair over her missing lover. His plan: wait for suspicion to alleviate before killing the captive, then dissolve the body in a bathtub of chemicals (Breaking Bad style). Though Dr. Clive is very intelligent, he is no professional murderer, and he soon matches wits with a Columbo-esque Superintendent from Scotland Yard.
The film progresses in a very believable and routine fashion, as the Dr. works daily then sneaks away at night with hot water bottles full of acid and a medical bag full of munchies for his prisoner. The cellar in which Bill is chained has running water and electricity, but I wonder who disposes of the waste? Dr. Clive even has the length of chain and Bill’s reach chalked-out on the floor, so he doesn’t inadvertently stumble within his reach! But his wife’s dog Monty follow him one night and now he must dispose of it in the most gruesome way possible: testing the acid bath! Bill however, snags Monty and keeps him safe knowing the Dr. won’t come within his reach. In a rather neat twist, Bill teaches the dog to pull the plug in his tub (without falling in) then sends Monty into the next room to drain the acid. Good thinking!
Like all perfect murders, the killer soon learns there is no such thing. The noose tightens as Inspector Finsbury (Naunton Wayne) plays his hunch which soon leads him closer to both Monty and Bill, and its Dr. Clive’s unconscious mimicry of American vernacular that gives him away. Bill and the dog are saved, the Dr. arrested, and Storm reunites with her lover. But damn, she ghosts him as he lays recuperating in the hospital; that is one cold-hearted bitch. But at least Monty found a new best friend!
Final Grade: (B)
