There are three reasons to see this film, assuming that you are a fan of 1950's British B-movies, as I am. First, the cinematography and direction: even though one imagines that the production was brought in under an as-usual rushed schedule, with little time for artistic considerations, Gullermin and Elton do still manage some imaginative set ups, notably shooting from a low level and with some interesting composition within the academy frame. Secondly there is Kathleen Byron, a long way from her greatest role (in Powell and Pressburger's BLACK NARCISSUS) perhaps, but still with a face which seems to demand provocative close ups, something which happens with striking effect a couple of times here. She may be working with sub-standard material, but how she fills the screen at such moments! Finally there is the plot itself, which is absurd and entertaining at the same time, fast moving and preposterous as it is. If the film had finished at the point of the fall from the cliff, I'd suggest, then it would have been an extremely taut and powerful minor classic. As it is, the plot has to lumber on into less starkly fatalistic territory - including a scene with a doctor which is bathetically laugh-inducing and suffers for it. No matter, the results are still worth seeing. On disc, the image is good.
Review of Four Days
