I always appreciate a two person head to head drama set in a single enclosed location. If it is done well it usually holds your attention with a vice-like grip. This was just such a one and ,I can imagine that Hitch was well pleased with the efforts of director Robert Stevens.
It is a simple story; a wailing siren periodically reminds the district that an inmate has escaped from an asylum for the criminally insane. Two men are sitting in the waiting room of a lonely railroad station. One claiming to be a lawyer, the other a bookeeper. The lawyer is nervous and fidgety, the bookeeper silent and morose. He keeps rubbing his head and drinking copiously from the water fountain. Using voiceover we hear the men's thoughts as they observe one another. "Jones. That's just the name he would choose". Muses the lawyer. "Bellefontaine. A silly made-up name.". Thinks the bookeeper..Since the action takes place in real time, during the 25 minutes until the train arrives, the suspense and tension build inexorably as the siren keeps reminding them of the possible lurking danger. The men keep noticing little details about each other. Why are Jones' clothes muddy and torn? Why does Bellefontaine guard his briefcase so intently? Things reach fever-pitch when Bellefontaine slips a gun into his pocket ; an action observed by Jones who sidles round to the stove and picks up a poker. As they confront each other the door opens and in walks - a police officer. Crisis over? Hmmmm!
Having just read CoastalCruiser's review I have to agree that it would have been delicious if, at the confrontation point, the men in white coats had burst in and subdued the SINGLE occupier of the room, who could even have been a completely different actor. Confirming that the whole scenario was the product of schizophrenia as flagged by the ticket clerk. Remake anyone?
It is a simple story; a wailing siren periodically reminds the district that an inmate has escaped from an asylum for the criminally insane. Two men are sitting in the waiting room of a lonely railroad station. One claiming to be a lawyer, the other a bookeeper. The lawyer is nervous and fidgety, the bookeeper silent and morose. He keeps rubbing his head and drinking copiously from the water fountain. Using voiceover we hear the men's thoughts as they observe one another. "Jones. That's just the name he would choose". Muses the lawyer. "Bellefontaine. A silly made-up name.". Thinks the bookeeper..Since the action takes place in real time, during the 25 minutes until the train arrives, the suspense and tension build inexorably as the siren keeps reminding them of the possible lurking danger. The men keep noticing little details about each other. Why are Jones' clothes muddy and torn? Why does Bellefontaine guard his briefcase so intently? Things reach fever-pitch when Bellefontaine slips a gun into his pocket ; an action observed by Jones who sidles round to the stove and picks up a poker. As they confront each other the door opens and in walks - a police officer. Crisis over? Hmmmm!
Having just read CoastalCruiser's review I have to agree that it would have been delicious if, at the confrontation point, the men in white coats had burst in and subdued the SINGLE occupier of the room, who could even have been a completely different actor. Confirming that the whole scenario was the product of schizophrenia as flagged by the ticket clerk. Remake anyone?