Faces in the Dark

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Faces in the Dark
"Faces in the Dark" (1960).jpg
British quad poster
Directed by David Eady
Screenplay byEphraim Kogan
John Tully
Based onLes Visages de l'ombre
by Boileau-Narcejac
Produced by Jon Penington
Starring John Gregson
Mai Zetterling
John Ireland
Michael Denison
Cinematography Ken Hodges
Edited by Oswald Hafenrichter
Music by Mikis Theodorakis
Production
company
Penington Eady Productions
Distributed by Rank Film Distributors
Release date
  • 22 November 1960 (1960-11-22)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Faces in the Dark is a 1960 black and white British thriller film directed by David Eady and starring John Gregson, Mai Zetterling and John Ireland. [1] The screenplay was by Ephraim Kogan and John Tully film is based on the 1952 novel Les Visages de l'ombre by Boileau-Narcejac. [2]

Contents

Plot

Richard Hammond, an aggressive and ambitious business mogul and inventor with little or no time for his wife, friends or family, is blinded in an explosion on the same day that his long-suffering wife had planned to leave him. He becomes bitter at life.

His wife is a devious woman and is plotting, with her lover, in an attempt to make her husband think he's going insane, in the hope that he will take his own life and leave them free to pursue their illicit affair in peace.

As he is blind when he encounters the lovers in bed the man just has to stay silent to evade detection.

Hammond gets wise to their plan.

Cast

Production

The film was shot at Shepperton Studios with sets designed by the art director Anthony Masters. [1]

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Though the central hypothesis of this horrific film – the urgent discovery, lease and furnishing of a house in France so like his own in Cornwall that a blind man couldn’t tell the difference – is as far-fetched as anything yet adapted from Boileau and Narcejac, the situation itself is still an inviting one. David Eady’s handling is sadly unambitious, however. Instead of using all the resources of the cinema to stress and elaborate the tension, he settles for a prosaic, television style of presentation. The photography is suitably harsh but the camerawork lacks fluidity; the characterisation is properly flat, but so is most of the acting. Only the tombstone incident, and Mai Zetterling’s enigmatic Christiane, have anything like the right Grand Guignol flavour." [3]

The Radio Times wrote "this tale of blindness and rage should have been a real nail-biter. Sadly, ex-documentary director David Eady simply doesn't have the thriller instinct and throws away countless opportunities to make the tension unbearable." [4]

TV Guide wrote that "The film has some pot-holes, but the chilling climax is smooth as glass. [5]

Allmovie noted "Although there may be a few minor gaps here and there in the storyline, Faces in the Dark is a suspenseful drama." [6]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Unlikely but watchable puzzler, betrayed by lifeless handing. Hitchcock would have worked wonders with such a plot." [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Faces in the Dark". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN   9783110951943 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "Faces in the Dark". Monthly Film Bulletin . 27 (312): 52. 1960 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "Faces in the Dark – review | cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times.
  5. ↑ "Faces In The Dark | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  6. ↑ "Faces in the Dark (1960) - David Eady | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  7. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 331. ISBN   0586088946.
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