Trevor Howard botches his assignment for Intelligence, so he's retired. He takes a job in the country, helping Barry Jones catalogue his butterfly collection. Jean Simmons is a troubled young woman in the house, the niece of Jones' wife, Sonia Dresdel; she found the corpses of her parents after they killed themselves.
Yet something odd is going on. Miss Dresdel seems solicitous of her niece, yet does things to keep her muddled. When a nasty gamekeeper is murdered, all the evidence points to Miss Simmons, but Howard doesn't believe it. The two of them go on the run.
It's a topnotch movie, with producers Box & Cox (Betty and Vivian) supervising, Gerald Thomas directing -- he's better known for comedies like DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE -- and a plot that seems to borrow liberally from THE 39 STEPS: the Buchan novel, rather than the Hitchcock film. It's a good mystery, with fine camerawork of the north English countryside and cities by Geoffrey Unsworth, The one issue I have is with Trevor Howard as the lead. Although he was in his late thirties when he made this film, he looks to be fifteen or twenty years older, and not a very suitable romantic partner for Miss Simmons.
Yet something odd is going on. Miss Dresdel seems solicitous of her niece, yet does things to keep her muddled. When a nasty gamekeeper is murdered, all the evidence points to Miss Simmons, but Howard doesn't believe it. The two of them go on the run.
It's a topnotch movie, with producers Box & Cox (Betty and Vivian) supervising, Gerald Thomas directing -- he's better known for comedies like DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE -- and a plot that seems to borrow liberally from THE 39 STEPS: the Buchan novel, rather than the Hitchcock film. It's a good mystery, with fine camerawork of the north English countryside and cities by Geoffrey Unsworth, The one issue I have is with Trevor Howard as the lead. Although he was in his late thirties when he made this film, he looks to be fifteen or twenty years older, and not a very suitable romantic partner for Miss Simmons.