Cesar Romero is an American detective in England who takes over what Scotland Yard won't when the troubled brother of a young woman (Lois Maxwell) he meets is murdered. The brother is briefly seen in the very beginning, being run down by a car in the night fog. The murder is declared an accident, and Romero takes it upon himself to try and help the sister prove her brother was killed. It's an exciting beginning that unfortunately becomes as convoluted as one of those mazes scientists let mice run through for experimentation. Initially intriguing, it eventually becomes monotonous and after a while, one ceases to care and looses interest, and is begging to be let out. Still, I pondered on through the tedium, feeling I needed a score card to follow this plot which introduces several possible suspects yet truly lacks in a believable motive. By the time the killer(s) were revealed, I was wearing the battery out on my DVD remote seeing how much time was left. Yet, the great beginning, which lead to a ponderous middle, finally had a rather thrilling conclusion, a chase sequence that results in two brutal deaths. But there were some moments where I wondered if Romero could possibly cross the street without getting hit with how many times he peaked out from behind a wall right after a bullet barely missed him. Maxwell is a believable heroine, and Romero, with his Yankee Doodle Dandy "Get Up and Go", is very much out of place in this staid British atmosphere where not one British character shows any sign of life outside of walking and talking. It's a characterization of the English that is totally untrue and an insult to some of the marvelous British character players that show how lively they really are.
Review of Scotland Yard Inspector
Scotland Yard Inspector
(1952)
Dull convoluted British noir that fails to meet its mark.
19 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers