Mank of course is almost always good value and if he never really equalled let alone eclipsed A Letter To Three Wives and All About Eve he certainly gave it the old college try and this late entry is streets ahead of the disappointing swanner There Was A Crooked Man. Rex Harrison actually contrives to appear vulpine in the quasi dance steps he affects at a couple of points in the action and it's interesting that no attempt is made to portray Venice in a seductive light, rather the sombre, muted tones add a distinctive flavour to the proceedings. The casting tends towards the bizarre and I can't think off hand of any one let alone any casting director who who automatically throw such diverse performers as Harrison, Hayward, Robertson, Smith, Capucine and Adams into the same project. Somehow one endures this and keeps watching Mank's literate screenplay unfold like a blossom struggling to overcome blight.
Review of The Honey Pot
