Stranger in the House

8/28/2023

This is an odd choice of Simenon novel to adapt into a film. It provides for a good role for James Mason as the drunkard solicitor "Sawyer" - a bright, intelligent operator who has hits the skids somewhat after his wife abandoned him, and he became oddly estranged from his daughter "Angela" (an effective, almost aloof Geradine Chaplin), with whom he shares a home. Otherwise, the rest of the roles are weak, wet even. When her boyfriend "Jo" (Paul Bertoya) is accused of a murder, "Sawyer" determines to raise his game and defend the young man. To be fair, this is a small tour de force for the star, who does deliver well. The rest of the story borders on the facile. The collective surrounding "Angela" - a bunch of wealthy no-hope wasters with Bobby Darin and a very dapper looking Ian Ogilvy, a