MamaGravity
good back-story, and good acting
RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Salubfoto
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
clanciai
Francis Durbridge shines through with his special knack for women mysteries and their magic presence for being absent, you are reminded both of the Paul Temple series and "Melissa" and other spellbinding thrillers with mystical ladies, and here you have two of them murdered while one of them shows up not being murdered at all.The intrigue is spun around a portrait, a weird old man commissions Robert Beatty, a poor painter and brother of the first casualty of the racket, to paint his lost daughter from a picture of her, which task gets him into thorough trouble, especially since one of his earlier models is found murdered in his flat.It's not a bad film although somewhat superficial, of such an intrigue Hitchcock would have brought out a masterpiece, the action is a bit thick as too many things are happening at the same time and too many threads are being woven together in some confusion, as there is another casualty of a man jumping out of a window and lots of fisticuffs which at least twice completely demolishes the painter's entire flat - there is not much space to fight, but they do it the more thoroughly.In brief, a very entertaining thriller with some magic in it, but you would have preferred the first girl (Josephine Griffin) to Terry Moore, but that's a matter of personal taste..
blanche-2
This British film from 1955 stars Robert Beatty, Terry Moore, and William Sylvester.Commercial artist Tim Forrester (Beatty) is visited by his brother (Sylvester) and learns that a third brother was killed in a car accident in Italy. A young actress, Alison Ford, was with him and she, too, died.The police seem to be looking for a postcard they believe the dead brother sent to Tim - a drawing of a chianti bottle with a woman's hand holding it, but Tim doesn't have it.The father of the dead Alison commissions him to paint her portrait and gives Tim a photo of her and the dress she wore in the photo. When he returns home one night, the painting has been ruined and one of his models (Josephine Griffin) is dead in the bedroom, wearing the dress from the portrait. He now is a suspect in her murder. Then Alison Ford shows up, not dead at all.The premise is Laura-esque as far as the portrait and the dead woman not being dead, but the similarity ends there. The plot concerns international smuggling, and the postcard is very important as police search for the mysterious head of the ring, Nightingale.The cast has British, Canadian, and American actors in it. It's a bit strange because one of the brothers has a British accent and the other doesn't. Terry Moore is very young and pretty here, and the overall acting is good.Though this is a British film, the outside influences make it seem more American than most of these movies.
ksf-2
This UK film from 1955 opens with a car racing along the road, over the cliff it goes, and bursts into flames when it hits the canyon below. Geoffrey Keen is Inspector Cobly, who is investigating the accident. We are introduced to Tim and Dave, the brothers of the deceased driver. You'll recognize "Henry" (Allan Cuthbertson) from Fawlty Towers, and whole lot of British TV. I see Hopscotch (AWESOME film) in Cuthberson's list of roles, but can't remember what he did in it. Tim (Robert Beatty) also starts checking out what's going on, and he bumps into people who have the answers, but don't want to give them up. Terry Moore stars as Alison, and seems to be at the center of all this grand adventure. Pretty entertaining. I've never seen this one before, and as of today, doesn't have any comments on the discussion board. Must be new to Turner Classics. There is a twist here and there, but nothing earth shattering. Story by Francis Durbridge, who wrote this in between all the (British) TV series for which he was known. Directed by Guy Green, who had received an Oscar for directing the 1948 Great Expectations.
last-picture-show
Originally a television series based on a story by crime writer Francis Durbridge, Portrait of Alison (AKA Postmark For Danger) is a neat thriller with enough twists and turns to keep anyone guessing. An excellent cast, especially Robert Beatty as artist Tim Forrester, who does a good job of underplaying the character, and Alan Cuthbertson in his screen debut, the first in a long line of oily villains. Also watch out for minor uncredited roles by Sam Kydd as a chirpy telephone engineer, Jack Howarth (later to play Albert Tatlock in long running ITV soap Coronation Street) as a hotel porter and Frank Thornton (later to play Captain Peacock in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served ) as a policeman.
