A high society photographer starts dealing in tiny portraits of the micro kind and embroils his buddy in a darkroom full of nitrate death. Daniel Birt’s utilitarian direction lacks suspense, drama, emotional complexity and thrills for 70 minutes of Lloyd Bridges acting like a goofy nice guy, who knowingly carries the deadly microfilm around in his coat pocket without any bad guy shooting him (or at least clobbering him)! The film eschews action for talky exposition especially in a tearoom where plot points are practically shouted so anyone can overhear the secret information. Bad script, apathetic direction, uninspired compositions (except one scene) define this flaccid noir.
Philip Graham (Lloyd Bridges) and his photographer buddy Tony (Pete Dyneley) are on vacation in Spain when Tony is suddenly called back to England on business. But he needs to get a mysterious envelope that he had stashed in the hotel’s safe; however, the owner’s wife has the only key, and she won’t be back until morning. Since Tony just has to leave now, Philip will snag the envelope in the morning and drive Tony’s car back to England where they’ll meet up. Of course this leads to Philip getting assaulted, confronting a femme fatale burning letters in Tony’s apartment while his cohort’s body goes all rigor mortise in the darkroom, discovering more mysterious envelopes, and getting involved in tepid blackmail subplot, then discovering that he’s carrying a secret formula on microfilm. It’s way less exciting than it sounds.
Lloyd Bridges reads his lines and hits his marks, investing his character with a good-natured persona, yet shows practically no emotion like fear or loss (I mean, his wartime buddy was murdered) and his romance is flat and ineffectual. In one neat scene when Philip eavesdrops in the aforementioned tearoom, he slips the microfilm into the pocket of the man who sold it to Tony. It’s a compassionate act towards this little man who loudly proclaims his regret. Of course, Philip takes it back the next day! Then there’s a scene where Philip is led by one of antagonists into an empty theatre while carrying the microfilm, and why this dude doesn’t kill him immediately remains a mystery. Especially since it soon turns into fisticuffs above a trap door revealing a room full of pointy polearms while the theatre burns down around them, and if someone didn’t get impaled, I would have turned the movie off! It’s the only scene that develops some visual interest and tension, as low angle shots through the trap door depict the flailing men, while the weapons are foregrounded.
The finale is as absurd as the previous 60 minutes as Philip meets with the kingpin (which is no surprise) and tries to secretly tape record the conversation. It should be notes that his reel to reel recorded is the size of luggage! It’s just shoved under the table. Once discovered, we are shown another microphone hidden in the dangling light and the Spanish police detectives eavesdropping. But the story builds no suspense as these key elements are never set up prior to the scene! It could have been a more exciting denouement as Philip and the police hide the microphones and maneuver the bad guys to the right table. Then as the conversation begins to reveal implicating details, maybe a loud sound or technical problem could briefly interrupt. Hell, I just plotted a better scene! I do like the final reveal as the bad guys try to escape in costume and the kingpin is exposed by man’s best friend.
Final Grade: (C-)
