Cast a Dark Shadow (1957)

the audience applauded

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The inimitable Dirk Bogarde stars as Edward (Teddy) Bare, he is a ladies' man – that is on occasion that the lady is filthy rich. He has married wealthy but older Monica (Mona Washbourne) and thinks he will inherit all her money as he is her spouse. However, she wants to make a will, so he decides it might be time for him to become a widower a little sooner than had been expected.Alas he gets it all wrong and so is left 'financially embarrassed'. Well as he has gotten away with murder once he decides he needs another Mrs Money bags with a short potential life span and so he puts another dastardly plan into action.This is lovely for all the right reasons. Bogarde as the deranged yet charming killer is just excellent – his facial expressions alone make this film. The supporting cast including Margaret Lockwood and Kathleen Harrison as the maid are all superb and totally believable in their respective roles. This was an adaptation of a play and that come across at times but it does not matter as this is a 'sit back and enjoy film' of how the other half once lived and more importantly died – recommended to all fans of old black and white British crime flicks.

In "Cast A Dark Shadow", Dirk Bogarde should have hired a professional. He certainly wouldn't have run into the snags and problems he encounters during the story, a character study with excellent acting performances down to the smallest part. It holds your interest throughout with an absorbing tale of cupidity and stupidity.Besides the beleaguered Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood and Kay Walsh turn in great performances, as well as Robert Flemyng as the suspicious family barrister who is on to Bogarde. The movie plays like a filmed stage play,and in fact was adapted from the stage, with only a few token exterior shots.The website bills "Cast A Dark Shadow" as a thriller but it is neither a thriller or a mystery, just a competent and engrossing drama which is worth your time, and it is time well spent. It was on ol' reliable TCM the other morning.

Cast a Dark Shadow is directed by Lewis Gilbert and adapted to screenplay by John Cresswell from the play Murder Mistaken written by Janet Green. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Kay Walsh, Kathleen Harrison and Robert Flemyng. Music is by Antony Hopkins and cinematography by Jack Asher.Edward Bare (Bogarde) marries an older woman for money, murders her and finds that inheritance is not forthcoming. Setting his sights on another lady target, he gets more than he bargained for when he homes in on Freda Jeffries (Lockwood)...You! Whatever you do, leave me alone!Splendid slice of Brit noir that takes the Bluebeard route and lets the actors indulge themselves with glee. There's a bubbling broth of class distinction and simmering sexual tensions on the stove here, with Gilbert (The Good Die Young) and Asher (The Curse of Frankenstein) dressing it up nicely in moody visuals. From a Ghost Train opening, where the eyes have it, to the consistent symbolic use of a rocking chair, there's a sinister edge to the piece that tickles the spine and tantalises the conscious. We are pretty sure what is about to unfold in the plotting, but the getting there through the shadows and low lights is where the rewards are. The cast are uniformly impressive. Bogarde by this time in his career was revelling in playing sleazy or emotionally corrupt characters, and he turns in another memorable performance here. Walsh and Flemyng are playing peripheral characters but strike the right narrative notes, and Harrison is heart achingly doltish as bewildered housekeeper Emmie. But it's Lockwood who shines brightest, here at the end of her film career, she delivers a spitfire turn. Freda is tough, has a waspish tongue (the script affords her some great moments) and uses humour as a mechanism for staving off potential peril. She also has a sexy glint in her eye that matches her ferocious laugh! It sometimes veers towards the over theatrical, and director Gilbert at times misses a chance to really tighten the suspense, but this without doubt is deserving of a bigger fan-base. 7.5/10

Good thriller/dark comedy with Dirk Bogarde as a completely amoral, compulsively watchable wife murderer. Bogarde is Edward "Teddy" Bare (geddit?)who knocks off his older, wealthy wife to collect her estate. But she has left him only the house, and virtually none of her money. So he marries a blowsy, rich and newly widowed Margaret Lockwood, to get her fortune. Problem? Lockwood may be common, but her brain works like clockwork. So dear Teddy sets his sights on a new target, in Kay Walsh.I admire Bogarde greatly as an actor. He made unusual, daring choices when he could have so easily taken the "matinee idol" route. Here we take great enjoyment in watching Teddy's plotting, much as we enjoy Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) in Kind Hearts And Coronets nailing his relatives one-by-one on his way to a dukedom. Lockwood got one of her best parts ever. Is that woman with the guttural laugh the young lass who played plucky Iris in The Lady Vanishes? Or buxom Barbara in The Wicked Lady? You bet it is. Overall it's a entertaining film, but not without it's flaws. The ending is pretty predictable, as is the "big revelation" later in the picture. Still, well worth your time.