with fighting parties, of which the second earns a place in lasting memorability. It's a great film on a minor scale but the more interesting for its absolute realism. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044658/ The Long Memory (1952) (9/10) One of those barge stories with an unpleasantly manifested haunting bad conscience 4 October 2018
John Mills is released from prison after 12 years for a murder he did not commit and had no motive for, while his only mistake was to love a beautiful young woman on board that barge who later betrayed and lied on him for the sake of her drunken father. There are so many delightful reminiscences in this film of earlier similar stories and masterpieces - why are these bleak and sultry barge melodramas always so successful. intriguing and unforgettable? Already Chaplin in "Modern Times" ended up poetically in a place like this, and let's not talk of all the French noirs by Marcel CarnĂŠ from "Quai des brumes" onward - all you lack in this film is Jean Gabin - he later even made an American barge film like this, where he was more drunk than usual. Here instead you have an unusually gloomy John Mills, who just hates everyone and wants to be alone with his hatred, as if that could cure it. Some weird fortune sends him an orphan woman, a certain Ilse (Eva Bergh) to patch him up, he revolts against it with all his might, but what can you do against love when it actually works? The other woman faces harder trials, and there is no cheerful prospect for her to look forward to, as her betrayal must have consequences even for others than just herself. It's a rather weird melodrama but fascinating, and there is a deus-exmachina twist to it all, as the actor you expected least of proves to have the final answer to all problems - no one can fool an old scrap collector. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044849/?ref_=tt_urv Walk East on Beacon (1952) (8/10) Closing in on communist spies and jeopardizing the life of an old Russian scientist 3 January 2018
This is a most conventional propaganda picture for the glory of the FBI with careful documentation of how expertly they handle their duties and get their commie villains. It is very similar in character to Henry Hathaway's "House on the 92nd Street", which though is a so much more interesting film for its characters, especially Signe Hssso. Here there are no characters except stereotypes.. The one character for which the film is worth seeing is Finlay Currie as the Russian scientist who gets into trouble, and his way of handling his very tricky path out
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