Drunk and disorderly, Casey Morrow may never see another morrow as he ties the knot...and may hang from one too! Terence Fisher directs with a sublime economy that propels the story forward like a shot of cheap bourbon, a complicated tale of seduction and murder that goes down raw and settles in your gut that way. You may need a double shot just to understand the plot!
Casey Morrow (Dane Clark) is broke and falling down drunk in a smoky jazz club when he is approached by a beautiful blonde, a stranger who offers him $500 pounds to do a job for her. Turns out, the job is of the matrimonial kind and bombshell Phyllis Brunner (Belinda Lee) is soon mysteriously betrothed to our clueless protagonist. Or is she? When Casey wakes up from his blackout drunken excess of the night before, he discovers her father has been murdered and he has blood on his clothes! He was dumped off on the doorstep of another stranger where Maggie Doone (Eleanor Summerfield) nurses him back to sobriety. When he swims to the surface of consciousness through his alcoholic fugue, he’s starring at a huge portrait of Phyllis and assumes he just dreamed the chance encounter. But when he leaves Ms. Doone’s apartment and sees the murderous headline, he knows he was set up to be a fall guy! Confusion ensues.
DP Walter J. Harvey once again does a workmanlike job of camera movement and composition without being flashy. Very few scenes utilize low key lighting or elongated shadows, though he does move the camera into the streets of London and into real pubs and bars, eschewing studio set designs. This heightens the verisimilitude of his condition as Casey races to discover the truth about his one-night stand, or more precisely, his one-night fall. And Terence Fisher fills the story with false leads and possibilities, as Phyllis remains mysterious one moment and infatuated with her new paramour the next. Is she a femme of the fatale kind? Does she know the truth or is she as much victim as Casey? The over-complicated story makes little sense as you’re watching it, but it makes the viewer experience the confusion of our protagonist who struggles to clear himself and discover Phyllis’ involvement. But one thing is for certain, when marrying into an extended family one may have to tolerate a Mater Fatale.
Final Grade: (B-)
