Je cherche le criminel

source: Take My Life

Take My Life

Made in that wartime and post-war black and white era when British movies at least looked good, employed fine character actors and dressed the cast glamorously. Greta Gynt may not be the world's greatest actress but she makes the most of her deadpan, slightly skewed beauty and nasal, refined voice. (Was English her first language?) She convinces least as the star of a ghastly modern opera (music by William Alwyn) in this tale of a man wrongly accused of murder. There's not much suspense. We know from the start that Marius Goring dunnit. And it's always good to see Rosalie Crutchley, who was quite a dish in her day. xxxx

Staring Hugh Williams and Greats Gynt this British 40's thriller is well worth a look.

The directorial debut of Ronald Neame and a good one too, as he enhances a typical story of a man falsely accused of murder with perfect pace and growing tension, The cinematography of Guy Green and the music score of Wiliam Alwyn also add to the suspense. The plot itself moves along but the ending is not the best as questions must be asked about the policeman on the train, Why was he there? Why pretend to be deaf as he couldn't know anything about the situation? Etc. Hugh Williams as the accused man is dull but Greta Gynt as the determined wife, Marius Goring as the volatile head master and Rosalie Crutchley as the violinist are all excellent. Familiar and able character actors pop up now and then to increase interest, The identity of the killer is revealed early in the film but this works because the driver to the story is how he and the crime can be linked. An entertaining film from Ronald Neame at the start of his director's career and there was even better to come..

It's a great film with great performances.... as so many reviewers here express that same sentiment so much more eloquently than I ever could....! The poorer reviews are critical in areas that only time has given them the benefit of.... 'Even' as a black and white movie there is a wonderful atmosphere that a color version could never hope to meet let alone exceed..! If you tend to enjoy good entertainment with no pre-conceived expectations then this film will most certainly deliver..... I sometimes wish that this fantastic app and website would also list a few of the more contemporary reviews so as to provide a sense of the film's context to ordinary film goers.... but even with that option, unfortunately, there would be very few that people might have written let alone shared....!

Intelligent narration by the judge in charge of a murder. And when you arrive at the end, you want to see again the first part to see how smart it was. First movie directed by former cinematographer Ronald Neame who worked on "Great Expectations" as adaptator. Great acting by Greta Gynt as the determined wife of her husband accused of murder but innocent. Ronald Neame was like Guy Green, Jack Cardiff, Freddie Francis, Seth Holt, Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster, Michael Carreras and many others : they could work as editor, cinematographer, screenwriter, director, and even actor.

TAKE MY LIFE is a brisk and efficient little 'wronged man' thriller that has much in common with the later Hitchcock movie THE WRONG MAN. This time around, Hugh Williams is the ill-fated protagonist whose connection to the victim and unlucky coincidence of having exactly the same forehead wound as the real murderer sees him sent to trial for murder. The beginning is a little slow and the characters a little stiff, although I always enjoy Marius Goring's villainous turns, typecast as he was. The film gets much more interesting around the halfway mark where Greta Gynt takes over and has to figure out the identity of the murderer herself, leading to a fine little set-piece on a train.