Something about the Whitechapel killings during Queen Victoria's reign has always gripped the public's imagination. I think it a combination of the youth and beauty of Jack the Ripper's victims and that the case was never solved has contributed to our fascination. That it is unsolved has led some to speculate the Ripper was a prominent person, maybe even a member of the Royal Family as one theory has it.
In Man In The Attic we have yet another speculative theory in the form of a historical novel by Belloc Lowndes. A rather well spoken, but shy man played by Jack Palance who is a research pathologist takes lodging at the home of Rhys Williams and Frances Bavier. Later on their daughter Constance Smith who is a well known actress returns from a tour of the continent and she moves back in with her parents.
No suspense involved here, just the casting of Jack Palance who was up for a Supporting Actor award for playing the cold blooded killer Wilson in Shane tells you right away whom we suspect. Those of us in the audience that is. The future Aunt Bea of Mayberry is the first to suspect her boarder. She alerts Scotland Yard's Byron Palmer who starts to take a look at him.
Palance's performance is calculated and controlled like Wilson in Shane, but this man is very different with different kinds of issues in his life. I could have seen him as Jack The Ripper.
Man In The Attic will entertain and send your brain to thinking about Whitechapel. And there will be no end of books and films on Jack The Ripper.
In Man In The Attic we have yet another speculative theory in the form of a historical novel by Belloc Lowndes. A rather well spoken, but shy man played by Jack Palance who is a research pathologist takes lodging at the home of Rhys Williams and Frances Bavier. Later on their daughter Constance Smith who is a well known actress returns from a tour of the continent and she moves back in with her parents.
No suspense involved here, just the casting of Jack Palance who was up for a Supporting Actor award for playing the cold blooded killer Wilson in Shane tells you right away whom we suspect. Those of us in the audience that is. The future Aunt Bea of Mayberry is the first to suspect her boarder. She alerts Scotland Yard's Byron Palmer who starts to take a look at him.
Palance's performance is calculated and controlled like Wilson in Shane, but this man is very different with different kinds of issues in his life. I could have seen him as Jack The Ripper.
Man In The Attic will entertain and send your brain to thinking about Whitechapel. And there will be no end of books and films on Jack The Ripper.