This eighty-minute, Mid-Century Film Productions movie was released in America by Astor Pictures Corporation. Both are as forgettable as the film itself. It is one dark film, perhaps because the budget never allowed for any studio lighting. Though a fairly intelligent script, the film still generates a lot of fog.
At the height of his career, popular Western and television star Rod Cameron gets work overseas in modern-day London. The Candian-born actor's stoic persona and physical presence add credence as the lone American in this British film. His stiff, deadpan delivery never lights up the screen, however. A slow start might make you fast forward but there is no need. There is always a change of pace and the film climaxes right at the end, as low-budget movies tend to do. Not a lot of action, but the brief fistfight sound effects, however, suggest each blow completely crushes every facial bone of the opponent. A few years before her famous James Bond role, Lois Maxwell works for MI-5 to assist Cameron. She obviously had connections.
Cameron is the detective out to discover the hidden purpose of a peace organization. As to be expected, he is captured and given a truth serum to reveal what he knows. Also expected, he manages to escape at night, stealing a car to get away. Funny to think the influence of the serum made him weave erratically from lane to lane. In reality, he may actually be forgetting which side of the road to drive on.
Night scenes mostly cover a lot of potential editing mistakes and it is plenty dark. The film slightly brightens at the end. Still, it plays out more like an early Forties mystery. There is nothing intense and it is all quite familiar.
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