Winston Graham was a great story teller, who was a top writer in all genres. His best known works are the "Poldark" series that were made into an acclaimed television series. Among his books that have been adapted for films - "Marnie" was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren. "The Walking Stick" starred David Hemmings and Samantha Eggar and was a romantic thriller.
"Take My Life" was the first Winston Graham book to be filmed. Additional dialogue was by Winston Graham and Margaret Kennedy (who wrote "The Constant Nymph") so it is a very stylish film.
Greta Gynt, Britain's resident sex symbol of the 40s (even though she was Norwegian) plays a rare sympathetic role. She plays Phillipa, an opera singer giving her first performance in England. She has a volatile marriage to Nicholas (Hugh Williams). During the performance Nicholas sees a girl (Rosalie Crutchley) that he has known in former times and she begs to see him after the show.
By morning the girl has been murdered and by an unfortunate co- incidence, Nicholas has been charged with murder. (He has a quarrel with his wife - they throw things at each other and Nicholas leaves the flat with a gash over his eye. The murderer also has a cut over his eye, where the girl hit him with a lamp when she was being strangled.)
The murderer is revealed early on and there is a game of cat and mouse as Phillipa goes to Scotland, hot on his trail. A piece of music is part of the mystery as well.
I really enjoyed it. British films had their own brand of "film noir" and this is a great example.
"Take My Life" was the first Winston Graham book to be filmed. Additional dialogue was by Winston Graham and Margaret Kennedy (who wrote "The Constant Nymph") so it is a very stylish film.
Greta Gynt, Britain's resident sex symbol of the 40s (even though she was Norwegian) plays a rare sympathetic role. She plays Phillipa, an opera singer giving her first performance in England. She has a volatile marriage to Nicholas (Hugh Williams). During the performance Nicholas sees a girl (Rosalie Crutchley) that he has known in former times and she begs to see him after the show.
By morning the girl has been murdered and by an unfortunate co- incidence, Nicholas has been charged with murder. (He has a quarrel with his wife - they throw things at each other and Nicholas leaves the flat with a gash over his eye. The murderer also has a cut over his eye, where the girl hit him with a lamp when she was being strangled.)
The murderer is revealed early on and there is a game of cat and mouse as Phillipa goes to Scotland, hot on his trail. A piece of music is part of the mystery as well.
I really enjoyed it. British films had their own brand of "film noir" and this is a great example.