The Depraved (1957)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Sick Product of a Sick System

Best movie ever!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

US army officer, Captain Dillon (Robert Arden), runs out of fuel on a country lane on his way back to base. He goes to a nearby mansion and meets the glamorous Laura (Anne Heywood). He asks to use the telephone to call for help and takes an immediate liking to Laura who is suffering abuse from her alcoholic husband, Tom Wilton (Basil Dignam), who beats her up. The local army base is about to go on maneuvers and, in order to keep the local people happy, the army decides to hold a party at the base. Dillon sees an opportunity to see Laura again by offering to deliver the invitations, which he does and it is then when Laura persuades him to murder her husband so that they can be together. At the party, Dillon gets Wilton drunk and when he leaves alone in his car Laura is waiting down the road and flags her husband down. Meanwhile, Dillon has slipped away from the party and they knock him out, put him in his car and drive it into the lake to make it look as if he lost control of it in his drunken state and drowned. But is their perfectly planned murder as foolproof as it appears and is Laura the innocent, long suffering wife she claims to be?If ever there was an example of a British film to prove that we could not come anywhere near to doing American film noir then this is certainly it. But, taken on its own merits, this is still an above average crime thriller from quota-quickie specialists The Danziger Brothers. Its tautly directed by the talented Paul Dickson and, despite the shoestring budget, succeeds in creating an engaging little film. The screenplay is by Brian Clemens who would go on to produce and write many classic episodes of the classic spy series The Avengers and here he ensures that the audience gets an unexpected twist at the climax.The Depraved was as the support feature to Richard Widmark's wartime courtroom drama, Time Limit, on the Gaumont-British circuit in 1957.

Basically a dud. An unhappy wife married to an older alcoholic husband convinces an American army officer to help her kill her husband and make it look like an accident.Several flaws: the army officer should have been a lot younger it would have been much better if he had been in his twenties same age as wife rather instead of early 40s and stodgy looking to boot.The set is atrocious especially the inside of the house with bamboo and nautical rope themes ugghhhh....especially as you are expecting an English manor house from the driveway up to it.One curious flaw... the MPs have PMs written on their caps--is this the British system? But they were Americans at an American base.Avoid this thing. There is no suspense to speak of and it has incredibly cheap production values...the accident was in no way suspenseful. Nothing about it was suspenseful.DO NOT RECOMMEND

This is a nice and neat little suspense piece in the tradition of "Double Indemnity." and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" An army captain (Robert Arden) falls for an abused wife (Anne Heywood) of a rich man (Basil Dignam).The most noteworthy thing, and what attracted me to watch the movie, is that it was written by master story teller Brian Clemens ("Danger Man," "The Avengers," "Captain Kronos: Vampire Killer"). Clemens' works always move quickly and mix humor, adventure and suspense in a generally pleasing manner. This movie shows that Clemens knew his craft from the beginning of his 50+ year career.He puts in three or four clever plot twists that help refresh the formulaic plot. For example, the abused wife is not nearly as helpless as we thought upon first seeing her.I found Robert Arden quite good and believable as the captain. Although he did a good amount bit roles in television work, this seems to have been his only really starring movie role. It is a shame. He has a Fred MacMurray type of niceness to him which should have led him to more straight heroic roles.Anne Heywood is our femme fatale/heroine.I knew Anne Heywood from her terrific acting in "The Fox." She is very good here as well. One sees exactly why Captain Dillon is willing to risk everything five minutes after meeting her.While this does have elements of classic Film Noir, it is not really representative of that genre. In classic Film Noir, the hero has some disturbance in his past that catches up to him. Here Ms. Heywood is the new and only disturbance.I think suspense and mystery fans will generally enjoy it. It is only slightly above the level of a good detective television series, but as long as you are not expecting too much that will do.

This film sounded promising but was a total dud. The script is terrible, a ripoff of 40s American noire classics like "Double Indemnity" and others. There is no continuity in dialog at all, with characters jumping all over the logic board. The acting of Anne Heywood, Robert Arden and Basil Dignam is atrocious. Over-the-top acting can be fun in the right genre, but this ain't it. On another note, the set decoration is among the worst I've ever seen, especially the front door/foyer area of Heywood's country house. UGH!!!!