Double Confession (1950) User Reviews

If noir is your niche, please don't spend all day at the beach

[AlsExGal · 5/10 · 11 August 2016]

This one started with such promise. A man is walking along a crude path from a hilltop to the beach. He is encountered by an old salt who warns him about the dangerous path. He comes to a cottage, but when he hears the door opening he hides, the man leaving the house looks around, has as a smoke, and goes up the path to the top of the hill. When he is out of sight a man's scream rings out. What a great and mysterious set up. Don't get your hopes up, because it is all downhill or treading water from there.

So the next setting is daylight in a beachside amusement park. The man who was hiding in the bushes is asking for a job, (Derek Farr as Jim Medway), but he seems more like he is pumping his old acquaintance for information about two murders the night before. What follows is Medway going to businessman William Hartnell, telling him that he killed his wife (she was the one Medway was going to see at the cottage), but he will tell the police that Hartnell did it because he knows Hartnell was having an affair with his wife. There were plenty of reasons for Hartnell to kill her - Hartnell is married, he didn't want the affair exposed, etc. And Hartnell WAS there. He was the guy leaving the house as Medway approached. Then Medway does what anybody does who threatens a man with lots of power who isn't afraid of violence. He spends a day frolicking at the beach! There is so much going on here it really blunts the power of the story because it has nothing to do with the story and just looks weird in a noir. Medway meets up with a girl who has her own problems - completely non criminal ones. Then there is Hartnell, who to be such a big powerful man of action, really does nothing but pace back and forth in his big office smoking heavily. Peter Lorre is Hartnell's friend who offers to kill Medway and make it look like an accident, and their relationship seems odd. Lorre acts like he looks forward to killing....ANYBODY! And he hovers over Hartnell like he is a little bit in love with him and the sentiment seems to be returned.

The last fifteen minutes or so make it almost worth it, but in the meantime you'll just be asking yourself "Where IS this thing going?".

Very good British film noir set at the English seaside

[robert-temple-1 · 7/10 · 8 May 2017]

This was director Ken Annakin's first film. It shows clearly that he had superior talent from the very beginning of his career. It was particularly interesting for me to see Ken's first film because I knew him so well and he and I worked on something together, so that I am familiar with his working methods. It is only in contemporary times that the old movies made by one's friends are released on DVD and one can see what they did in the beginnings of their careers. Even they themselves rarely had copies of their own early work, because it would have meant having 35mm prints. This film noir is based on a novel by John Garden entitled ALL ON A SUMMER'S DAY, which was published in 1949. It is set at an English seaside resort with the fictitious name of Seagate, which has a pebble beach, a promenade, a very prominent and extensive fairground, is near high cliffs, and is crowded with people on holiday. The actual filming locations were Hastings and Bexhill-on-Sea, which are near each other in East Sussex. In 1950, the British spent their holidays at such places rather than going abroad. That was not only because cheap air travel did not yet exist, but because there were severe limitations on the amount of currency one could take out of the country. No one was permitted to take more than £50 in cash abroad, and credit cards had not yet been invented. (I need to explain all this because younger people today know nothing of the past and hence are liable to misinterpret such things.) The film contains some notable performances. William Hartnell is particularly good as an unscrupulous businessman who does not shy away from violence when necessary. The character actor Edward Rigby is excellent as an 'old salt', a local fisherman who is just going down the deserted cliffside by moonlight to look after his lobster pots at 4 AM when he runs into trouble. Rigby died the next year, having spent 50 years on stage and having appeared in his first film in 1910. The female lead is a particularly charming and delightful actress named Joan Hopkins, who made five feature films between 1947 and 1950 (of which this was the last), appeared in some television dramas, and then in 1954 retired from acting. She married the film director Henry Cass, and she lived to be 87. Her retirement from acting was a great loss to the screen, because she had many of the same qualities as Deborah Kerr and could have had a marvellous lifelong career. Peter Lorre plays a criminally-minded associate of Hartnell, with his usual expert portrayal of an eccentric and neurotic man of disturbed mind and morals. Towards the end of the film, he has to be very dramatic indeed and gives what is usually called 'a towering performance'. In fact those are the most powerful scenes I have ever seen him in, and it is as if he were possessed. Anyone interested in Peter Lorre really needs to see this film. Annakin adds numerous imaginative touches to the film, including scenes with an eccentric and amusing little girl, which have nothing to do with the story but raise the film well above the level of the mediocre. The story is mysterious. Derek Farr, the male lead, arrives at Seagate late at night by the mail train (arriving at 3:30 AM) and walks a long way by moonlight to a lonely cottage at the base of the local cliffs. Strange goings-on occur there, and we hear a shrill scream. Who has done what to whom? Hartnell is there at the cottage, seen by Farr, and shortly afterwards someone else falls from the cliff to the beach, but who is he? It isn't Farr and it isn't Hartnell. Naunton Wayne plays the local police inspector who has to solve the murders of two people on one night, one of whom is under a false name and the other of whom is never seen in the film. The scenes where Farr and Joan Hopkins sit chatting on the beach provide well-placed moments of calm and normality in the midst of a story which swirls with intrigue and tension. The contrast serves to remind us of just how abnormal the wider situation really is. The title refers to more than one person confessing to the same murder. This film has been made with such style and imagination that it is a genuinely superior film noir.

Rare British Film Noir

[howardmorley · 7/10 · 4 October 2012]

Despite seeing many British 1940s/50s films. this was the first time I had seen "Double Confession".The cast reads like a veritable whose who of well known actors/actresses working in 1950.I have seen Derek Farr playing very anodyne parts in films like "Quiet Wedding" (1941) & its companion film "Quiet Weekend" (1946) but given the right casting he could turn on his thespian power playing the lead in this film.Ronald Howard (who plays the newspaper editor) was 32 when he made this film and looks every inch his father's son.His father being of course the great actor Leslie Howard.Naunton Wayne (in one of his outings without Basil Radford - Charters & Caldicott) plays the police inspector who actually drinks whiskey while on duty!Another film Naunton played solo in 1950 was "Highly Dangerous" with Margaret Lockwood.Kathleen Harrison plays her usual working class role seemingly trying to "pick up" Leslie Dwyer on the beach.Edward Rigby adds his usual colourful local accented character.The only surprise to me was Joan Hopkins whom Derek Farr befriends at the beach resort.I saw a documentary recently and many women who had illegitimate children felt compelled to renounce motherhood for them and send them off for adoption , if it would have caused a family scandal if they had kept them.Joan plays such a mother agonising over this type of moral dilemma.She does have lovely diction and it is always a pleasure to hear beautifully spoken English which actresses were taught in their drama academies at the time.

Unlike the two previous reviewers, I notice the mass of user ratings on IMDb rated this 7.3/10 which is good and I too rated it 7/10.I agree the plotting is a bit confused and could have done with better editing but I enjoyed this film nevertheless.

Watch it for the cast...

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 27 February 2015]

DOUBLE CONFESSION is a once-lost British slice of film noir, filmed in the coastal resort of Bexhill-on-Sea. The film itself is only partially successful, featuring a very bland and undistinguished leading man in Derek Farr, and is also quite badly written with lots of extraneous sub-plots to pad out the running time. But it also has one of the most wonderful casts in a film from this era.

The general vibe here is BRIGHTON ROCK, although there's also a murder mystery aspect to the story as Farr attempts to solve a dual murder: that of his wife, and another chap who happened to fall from a cliff at virtually the same time. Sadly the premise is confusing, mainly because the second cliff-top murder isn't actually shown, and things don't become clear until the very end. The female cast also fare badly, engaged in bland sub-plots that merely slow the pacing down.

Still, there are some good set-pieces here and there, not least an attack by speedboat that bears some stylistic similarities to the famous crop-duster attack in NORTH BY NORTHWEST - maybe Hitch got inspiration from this? The rousing climax is also worth waiting for, but the main reason to watch this is the supporting cast which is absolutely packed with familiar faces. William Hartnell and Peter Lorre make a fine tag-team as the villains, but that's only the start. There's Ronald Howard as a journalist, George Woodbridge as a copper, Leslie Dwyer as a random guy enjoying himself at the beach, and the wonderful comic actor Naunton Wayne (THE LADY VANISHES) as the investigating detective. There are also bit parts for future faces like CARRY ON actors Peter Butterworth and Esma Cannon. All in all a great collection of names which makes DOUBLE CONFESSION well worth a watch.

Double Confession

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 27 December 2022]

This is quite a decent, complex, little British crime drama with Derek Farr as "Jim Medway" who turns up at an English seaside resort whereupon, shortly afterwards, his wife is found murdered in the "White Cottage". The police investigation is soon focussed on him, so he tries to fit up local bigwig "Charlie Durham" (William Hartnell) with whom he has certain history, and finds he has bitten off a bit more than he was expecting to chew. It's a superior first effort from Ken Annakin that capitalises on the quirky novel from John Garden and some solid performances on screen - including an on-form Peter Lorre as Hartnell's slightly bonkers sidekick and local journo "Hilary Boscombe" (Ronald Howard) that keeps the pot boiling well for 80 minutes. Rarely seen nowadays, but worth a watch if you like your mysteries with a little more meat on the bone.

Everyone Has Something To Hide

[boblipton · 6/10 · 24 November 2019]

Derek Farr gets off the train at the seaside resort and starts down the cliff, directed by lobsterman Edward Rigby. The next morning, he's wandering around, running into Joan Hopkins, and threatening old friend and local restaurant magnate William Hartnell with telling the police that he killed his wife at that house. Hartnell denies it, but fears the scandal will ruin him and make his wife and two sons miserable. Peter Lorre, whom Hartnell saved from death, and who now is doglike in his devotion, suggests that he will kill Farr for him. Something is worrying Miss Hopkins. Not only is Farr's wife dead, but so is Rigby. Inspector Naunton Wayne has to figure out what happened.

It's always dark days at seaside fun fairs in England, isn't it? It's a black, tangled mare's nest for the characters and audience to puzzle over, and a grand cast of character actors, including Kathleen Harrison, Leslie Dwyer, and Peter Butterworth. Everyone has something to hide, everyone has something to regret, and if this is in no way a fun movie, it certainly is one that holds your attention.

Was it one murder or two, was there any murder at all, was it the husband or the lover - a rebus of whodunit mysteries.

[clanciai · 9/10 · 16 October 2020]

This gives a very strong impression of being a direct continuation of Roy William Neill's last film "Black Angel" four years earlier, it's the same mood, the same kind of characters, and although that film was all in London and this one in Hastings, the night club of London was the same as William Hartnell's great joint in Hastings. This thriller is even more polyphonic though with an intrigue deliberately made as confusing as possible: two men love the same woman, one is married to her and comes home after a long absence, and sees the other man coming out from her place, while at the same time another man falls off the cliff and dies, causing the sensation of two deaths, possibly two murders, at the same time in the same place. We never see neither the dead woman nor the dead man, but the clue is all in his necktie, which key to the mystery is revealed in the very last moment of the film, never until then, before which everything is just a muddle of confusions even to the police, while William Hartnell keeps sweating and Derek Farr as the former husband enjoys his sweat, while Peter Lorre gets gloriously drunk in his foolhardy efforts to protect his master William Hartnell. Fortunately there is also another woman involved, the lovely Joan Hopkins, who presents the great constant relief and enjoyable relaxation of the film. The scenery captivated from the shores of Hastings and throughout enjoyable is gloriously rendered with many other supporting characters, like the inimitable Kathleen Harrison, while Naunton Wayne as inspector Tenby keeps as cool as in "The Lady Vanishes" and various other films with Basil Radford, who is missing here. Ken Annakin made no Sherlock Holmes films, but he was one of those directors, like Billy Wilder and Jean Negulsesco, who never repeated himself but could make glorious comedies (like "Three Men in a Boat") as well as the best version of "The Call of the Wild". In brief, it's a much underrated thriller of great entertainment value and for all its complexities marvellously well directed.

Odd little British noir

[Anne_Sharp · 5/10 · 16 September 2000]

Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock" seems to have been the inspiration for this intriguing but not very coherent suspense story about murder and sundry underworld goings-on at a seaside resort. The narrative gets stuck somewhere between conventional English murder mystery and American-style noir and just never loosens up, and the sight of all those British holiday-makers lounging around on the beach in long dresses and tweed suits just sums up the ludicrous uptightness that plagues the whole concept. Peter Lorre is brought in to jazz up the proceedings in a rather daring role as a henchman who clearly appears to be carrying a torch for his villainous (male) employer.

Confused And Disjointed Thriller

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 3 July 2011]

This film looks as if it has been cobbled together by a number of writers neither of whom had seen what the others were writing.There are so many contrivances and coincidences that at times make the film seem ludicrous.There seem to be half a dozen films in one,none of which seem to be connected.However there has to be some entertainment value in watching Kathleen Harrison trying to play beach cricket and Leslie Dwyer playing with his model boat in a three piece suit with his trouser legs rolled up.The main plot is just plain daft enlivened by the chalk and cheese performances and pairing of Lorre and Hartnell.There is one scene in the climax with Lorre at full blast which reminds of the scene between him and Bogart in The Maltese Falcon when Bogart takes his gun away.Unfortunately the antics of Lorre nor brief glimpses of familiar faces such as Esme Cannon and a very young Peter Butterworth cannnot save this mess submerging beneath the waves.

Triple confusion

[johnshephard-83682 · 2/10 · 15 December 2019]

Confused, and utterly ridiculous, murder mystery set during a day at the seaside. Jim Medway (the charmless Derek Farr) arrives on the mail train at three thirty in the morning and decides it's a good time to visit his estranged wife, who lives in an unfeasibly inaccessible cottage, approached via a life-threatening clifftop walk. The wife is later found dead, and Jim decides to frame local villain Charlie Durham (William Hartnell), although claiming to have killed her himself. Thereafter, the plot thinnens, making absolutely no sense, and characterised by contradictions and inconsistencies, conversations based on information that characters have no way of knowing, monumentally daft dialogue, and the obligatory unlikely romance between Jim and total stranger Anne Corday, who talks like the speaking clock. One sample exchange, between two coppers discussing the murder scene, is typical of the banal script:

'Can you hear the clock chime from outside?' 'If the door's open, yes sir.' 'Someone must have opened the door then.' 'Yes, to go in, I suppose.' 'Or to go out?'

Priceless. The film is littered with pointless fringe characters - carboard cut-out chirpy cockneys on a day trip, a man in a suit and a bowler hat carrying a toy sailing boat, and a couple of unlikely fortune tellers, all wasting the talents of Kathleen Harrison, Esma Cannon and others. Then there's Peter Lorre, playing an incompetent killer with some unclear role in events, who finally confesses to the murder, which was actually a suicide, but is then accused of a different murder (without any apparent evidence, other than the fact that just about every suspect in the case was on that clifftop at four in the morning). Lorre escapes through a window, chased by Hartnell across the roof, and falls to his death.

So, why did all this happen? Why does Jim visit his wife at four in the morning? Why was Charlie leaving her cottage when Jim arrives? Why has she committed suicide? What was Peter Lorre doing nearby? Who was the other murder victim, and why was he killed? Why does everyone confess to a murder that was a suicide? How does the police inspector always seem to know where everyone is at any time? How does Lorre know that Jim and Anne will be swimming at a particular time, when they have made a spur of the moment decision? Why does anything happen the way the way it does? I've no idea; it's a preposterous ragbag of incoherent events, with some nostalgic south coast scenery.

Facing death they get a second chance at life

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 21 September 2023]

Sometimes we don't need to know what the inspiration or source material is, we just need to take the movie on its own terms and let it work its magic on us. DOUBLE CONFESSION isn't a magical motion picture per se, but it does cast a spell on its spectators, who are quickly drawn into a hodgepodge of scenarios and intriguing character studies that play out along a coastal resort area.

The central focus involves the death of a married woman that may have been having an extramarital affair. Her dead body is found inside a seashore cottage. Not too far away, a blackmailer's body has also been found down near the water. Police take their sweet time investigating both deaths and it is implied the woman was murdered while the man had accidentally fallen off a cliff. But these pronouncements are later reversed, when it's revealed the woman had in fact committed suicide while the man was pushed off the cliff.

The two deaths which happen on the same night are linked since both of the deceased individuals knew a businessman (William Hartnell) in town. Part of the mystery here is just how culpable Hartnell's character is in the two deaths, with police and invested local parties offering a wide array of theories.

One theory belongs to the dead woman's husband (Derek Farr) who has just returned from a few years abroad. After a lengthy separation, he was on his way to the cottage to reunite with his wife when he found her lifeless corpse. He doesn't exactly cooperate with the police, but he puts pressure on Hartnell since he holds Hartnell responsible for what's happened and has a score to settle. This unnerves Hartnell's sleazy associate (Peter Lorre, who steals every scene he's in).

Hartnell and Lorre enjoy a slightly unusual relationship. Particularly since there isn't anything Lorre won't do out of loyalty for Hartnell. At one point, Lorre devises a plan to divert suspicion from Hartnell and cause an 'accident' for Farr. As I said, there's an assortment of scenarios playing out here, and you almost need a scorecard to sort who's who and what their individual motives may be.

While all this is happening, Farr takes time along the shore to relax. He meets a pretty tourist (Joan Hopkins) with troubles of her own, involving a domestic crisis at home. She's here to clear her mind and regain perspective. She and Farr start falling for each other, even if she wonders whether he may have killed his wife, until it is proven the wife committed suicide. There's a memorable scene where Farr and Hopkins each have their fortunes read inside a tent, and they hear things told to the other about their respective pasts and futures, which draws them together even more.

Meanwhile, there is a standalone subplot that involves a single woman past her prime (Kathleen Harrison) who sets her sights on unsuspecting prey (Leslie Dwyer). The film keeps cutting back to them for lighter, amusing moments and eventually we see them pair off. They are totally unaware of the two dead bodies and the investigations that have been going on with the other characters.

Although this is not a brilliant movie, it's one I enjoy a great deal. Would it have been better in the hands of a skilled director like Alfred Hitchcock? Probably. Especially the scene in the lake where Lorre tries to kill Farr with a speedboat while Farr's out for a swim with Hopkins. The editing would have been more strategic and suspenseful if Hitchcock had overseen that sequence. But as it is, DOUBLE CONFESSION still casts a spell on us. It draws us into a series of interconnected activities about the dead and the living. The living who are facing death, get a second chance at life.

Messy film evoking English 1950s seasdide resort

[Marlburian · 5/10 · 19 October 2020]

The best that I can say about the film is that it's a good representation of a busy day at an English seaside resort in 1950.

But that detracts from the plot, about a double murder, with Derek Farr being the main suspect. But in between answering the police's questions and facing up to the local bad guy (excellently played by William Hartnell), he still has time to meet a young woman on the beach and enjoy all the fun of the fair, including the pair having their fortunes told.

The scenes with Leslie Dwyer as the man with the model boat were intrusive to the point of being cringe-worthy.

I gave up on it with 20 minutes to go, though I gather from one review that's when it gets good - though a number of questions are left unanswered.

Farr From The Madding Crowd

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 9 July 2017]

First let's deal with the sloppy writing: A man gets off a train at night. He is the sole passenger to leave. He asks the porter the way to the 'white cottage', the porter says it's a twenty minute walk. The man asks about a taxi, the porter says, not at this time of night, the man will have to walk along the cliffs. Fair enough but if a train is going to stop and discharge passengers there is likely to be a taxi(s) looking for fares. Later, when asked what train her arrived on and at what time, the man says he came on the mail train and arrived at 3.30. Is it likely there would be a porter on duty at 3.30 a.m? The man walks along the cliffs and is guided by a old salt checking his lobster nets. The next morning we find not a remote hamlet as we supposed but a busy seaside resort full of tourists. Shooting from the beach, pov of the ocean there are NO cliffs visible. There is, however, an interesting cast led by the wooden Derek Farr and the now forgotten Joan Hopkins. Notable among the support is Peter Lorre, William Hartnell, Naunton Wayne, and Kathleen Harrison and Leslie Dwyer who have absolutely nothing to do with the story despite prominent parts. See it for Lorre.

By the sea, by the sea, by the murderous sea.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 10 March 2022]

The photography comes out the winner in this British thriller where three male characters go around acting very, very strange for well over an hour before the award of who the creepiest of the three is. Derek Farr sneaks around a rocky beach where his wife is supposedly carrying on with William Hartnell. Whrh the unseen wife ends up bejng murdered, Farr is suspected but makes it appear that Hartnell is the guilty party, and begins romancing the shy Joan Hopkins. Hartnell is friends with none other than Peter Lorre (who appears to be in a completely different movie himself), and proclaims his innocence, but Lorre is maniacally fascinated with murder, that is when he's not fascinated by the booze, and then, his vision is so blurred oh, he doesn't seem fascinated with anything except the oddness of his vision which apparently only works in one eye.

This very weird British melodrama with hints of noir has some very interesting art direction surrounding a seaside amusement park, very crowded and filled with a plethora of all ages of people, in a variety of very odd swimming suits and eccentric situations. A little girl keeps popping up as an extra, at one point wearing a huge head piece that she stole from a fun house. The visuals are much more interesting than the plotline, and Lorre seems to be enjoying the fact that his character is one of the weirdest men ever to be seen on the screen. But as interesting as these elements are, that doesn't make it a good film, and even with the bizarness of the film, the viewer can't help but wish that the writers had worked more on the story and charaxters than they did on background details. Fascinating for its flaws, it's the type of film that looks fantastic in stills but flops when viewed with questionable direction by the usually adept Ken Annakin.