By gum, from the 1940's through the 1960's, when the British put together a murder mystery with a psychological edge, nobody could beat them! This little thriller starts out in WWII as a team of surgeons and nurses are quite busy repairing the bodies of people hit by Nazi planes whose targets are not military but civilian in an effort to beat down the morale of British citizens.
One night a fellow named Higgins is brought in, badly injured by one of these Nazi bombs, and he dies on the operating table. He says something right before he goes under the anesthetic to one of the members of the team - I won't tell you what - and you think "Oh this is easy, THAT person did it." Then you find out another member of the team has psychological issues stemming from her mother's death in a raid while she was away from home, that there are jealousy issues over a woman between the two doctors, and yet another member of the team just likes to cause trouble.
Big tip here - if you suspect that someone is guilty of murder, do not stop a social event in a room that includes all of the suspects and say "I know there has been a murder, I know who the murderer is, and I am now going alone out into the dark of night to retrieve the evidence that will convict that person!" You will wind up dead, and so does that person.
Enter stage left Alistair Sim as a representative of Scotland Yard -in other words a cop - and he is every bit as unlikeable as any murderer could be. He announces that Higgins was murdered, he announces that the five surviving members of the surgical team are suspects, and he also announces that four poison pills are missing from the pharmacy. The implication is that the one of the five that is the murderer plans to kill the other four. On his way to solving the case, Sims' character seems to really enjoy making women cry hysterically and causing the doctors to come to blows with only words and insinuations.
There will be several places right up to the end where you are SURE you know who is guilty and you will be wrong right up to the ironic ending. Watch and find out who did it and why. I guarantee you'll be on the edge of your seat right up to the end, which is when the confusing title of this film is explained.
One night a fellow named Higgins is brought in, badly injured by one of these Nazi bombs, and he dies on the operating table. He says something right before he goes under the anesthetic to one of the members of the team - I won't tell you what - and you think "Oh this is easy, THAT person did it." Then you find out another member of the team has psychological issues stemming from her mother's death in a raid while she was away from home, that there are jealousy issues over a woman between the two doctors, and yet another member of the team just likes to cause trouble.
Big tip here - if you suspect that someone is guilty of murder, do not stop a social event in a room that includes all of the suspects and say "I know there has been a murder, I know who the murderer is, and I am now going alone out into the dark of night to retrieve the evidence that will convict that person!" You will wind up dead, and so does that person.
Enter stage left Alistair Sim as a representative of Scotland Yard -in other words a cop - and he is every bit as unlikeable as any murderer could be. He announces that Higgins was murdered, he announces that the five surviving members of the surgical team are suspects, and he also announces that four poison pills are missing from the pharmacy. The implication is that the one of the five that is the murderer plans to kill the other four. On his way to solving the case, Sims' character seems to really enjoy making women cry hysterically and causing the doctors to come to blows with only words and insinuations.
There will be several places right up to the end where you are SURE you know who is guilty and you will be wrong right up to the ironic ending. Watch and find out who did it and why. I guarantee you'll be on the edge of your seat right up to the end, which is when the confusing title of this film is explained.