The Man in Black

1/31/2019

Oakfield Towers ... The Scene... The Man in Black is directed by Francis Searle and Searle co-writes the play with John Gilling. It stars Betty Ann Davies, Sheila Burell, Sid James, Anthony Forwood and Mollie Palmer. Music is by Frank Spencer and Rupert Grayson and cinematography by Cedric Williams. Out of Hammer Films, this adaptation from a radio series is a tight little "Gaslight" suspenser. Story basically entails a young lady recently bequeathed her father's inheritance, who is at the mercy of scheming family members intent on ensuring she doesn't get what's rightfully hers. The core of the plot is quickly revealed to us, so there is no pretention as to this being a supernatural dark house spooker - which is on the cards given the splendid shadowy and creaky setting of the Oa

12/27/2022

It's interesting to see Sid James play a straight (albeit brief) role for change in this simple little crime thriller. He is a wealthy chap with a rather venal second wife and step-daughter. His obsession with mysticism leads, one evening, to a risky experiment and it all goes wrong... We have no absence of potential culprits as his new family try to drive his daughter out of her mind so they can inherit his fortune. Betty Ann Davies is good as the scheming the wife, with Sheila Burrell likewise as her ghastly, grasping, daughter all manipulating poor old "Joan" (Hazel Penwarden) in a decently paced mystery. Sadly the ending is writ a bit large from fairly early on, and that makes it all sag a bit - maybe Francis Searle could have tightened it up by a quarter of an hour? It's still an enjo