User Reviews

BLACK WIDOW 1951

Robert Ayres is driving down a country lane when he comes across someone laying in the middle of the road. Thinking it is someone who has been hit by a car he stops to see if he can help. What he gets for his efforts is a vicious belt to the head from a lead cosh. He is then relieved of his wallet and his car.

Several minutes later having somewhat recovered, he staggers to a nearby farmhouse and collapses. He is found and a doctor is called. Meanwhile the car thief has made it about 30 miles before he takes a corner a tad fast and goes for an unwanted flight off a cliff. Needless to say that the car explodes taking care of the thief. Back at the farmhouse Ayres has regained consciousness.

One slight problem though. He has no idea who he is or how he got to the farmhouse. The local doctor says to get some rest and the police say there are no reported missing persons. The farm owner and his daughter agree to house Ayres while he recovers. Several weeks go by and Ayres still has no memory of who he his. A search of his overcoat turns up a theatre ticket from a town 60 miles away.

Ayres grabs a train and heads for the town. Once there he recognizes a large house. He enters and finds a coffin covered with flowers in the front room. A blonde, Christine Norden, enters and upon seeing Ayres screams and then faints. Ayres memory all drops back into place! Norden is his wife and this is his house. It seems Norden thought Ayres had been killed in the car crash that killed the car thief.

All is now well. Or is it? It seems Norden has been stepping out with another man and has plans of her own for the estate. She asks if anyone had seen him come home. "No", answers Ayres. "Go have a sleep while I make some calls. We'll have a welcome home party tonight" she says. While Ayres is upstairs, Norden makes a call to her lover to arrange Ayres upcoming demise. Of course her plan comes unraveled and Norden and her lover get their just deserts.

This is a brisk moving 60 min thriller from the U.K. Directed by Vernon Sewell who did several very good little noir like, STRONGROOM, MAN IN THE BACK SEAT and UNEASY TERMS. Christine Norden did quite a few blonde bimbo roles before Diana Dors showed up on the scene.

There are a few questions to be had (What was Mark doing in Yorkshire? Why didn't he reveal himself at the funeral? Where does Mark's equine knowledge come from? Why do both Mark and Christine have hand guns? Who is Paul? etc.) and the ending is quite abrupt but this is a tolerable film with a fascinating performance from Christine Norden as the titular black widow, also called Christine. Imported American actor Robert Ayres as Mark pales next to Ms. Norden. It is directed nicely by the under rated Vernon Sewell.

Unfortunately the print I saw was not in good condition so one couldn't really appreciate Walter J. Harvey's cinematography, which looked good despite the low budget. Not a classic but pleasant enough viewing.

BLACK WIDOW is another short feature made by Hammer Films in the early 1950s. It looks and feels much like the rest of the fare they were putting out during the era, limited as they were by low budgets and slightly stodgy writing. This one was directed by Vernon Sewell, who went on to make much more fun films in the years to come, such as GHOST SHIP and RADIO CAB MURDER. The dullish Robert Ayres plays a guy who suffers a dramatic car accident and ends up amnesic - that old chestnut. He returns to his blonde bombshell wife, as played by Christine Norden of the short-lived career (Diana Dors would come along and steal her thunder in a couple of years time) but there's a small-time conspiracy in store. At a mere 52 minutes in length this rushes through the proceedings but doesn't allow time for any kind of atmosphere, suspense, or depth.

Mark Sherwin (played by Robert Ayres) is beaten and his car stolen on a remote country lane. The robber subsequently crashes the car and dies. Meanwhile, Mark has lost his memory but is taken in and cared for at a Yorkshire horse training academy run by Kemp (played by John Longden) and his daughter Sheila (played by Jennifer Jayne). He discovers a clue that could lead him to find out who he is, which takes him to Epping in Essex. He finds his way to a remote mansion and, with his memory restored, he recognizes it as his home and the lady who lives there, Christine (played by Christine Norden), as his wife. She is shocked but overjoyed to see him, supposedly. The assault in Yorkshire was all part of a plan engineered by her to kill her husband. She attempts to drug him with sleeping pills whilst allowing his funeral to go ahead and a coffin is buried containing the body of a murdered tramp. However, Mark is on to her and discovers that she has been having an affair with his best friend Paul (played by Anthony Forwood). That night Christine tells Mark that she and Paul are to hold a party in celebration of his safe return home. In reality, she plans to get her lover to shoot him and dispose of his body by burying it in quicklime. Mark confronts the pair and offers to grant Christine a divorce and a £5000 settlement. They appear to accept it, but Paul follows him to the wine cellar as he goes to fetch a bottle of brandy with a pistol to murder him. Meanwhile, Sheila, having fallen in love with Mark, has followed him to Epping and succeeded in tracing his whereabouts. She turns up at the house. Will the cunning pair succeed in murdering Mark for his money and add Sheila to their list because she knows too much? Or, will they come unstuck?

Very acceptable 'B'-pic crime noir from Hammer with the obligatory imported American lead (Ayres) who offers a competent performance. The rest of the cast is more than capable with Norden making a great femme fatale. It also includes the director Vernon Sewell's wife Joan Carol in a small role as a hotel manageress. The storyline holds the attention while the rural locations and settings (attractively lensed in b/w by veteran cameraman Walter Harvey) create a strong feeling for place and mystery. Combined with Frank Spencer's beautiful music score, they create an authentic American film noir look and feel. Sewell's direction is sound and there are moments of suspense - especially at the climax, which leaves questions unanswered in the best suspense film tradition so the picture doesn't end as predictably as one might expect with second features. All in all, this is worth taking the trouble to see.

.....and "a psychiatrist!! - smile when you call me that"!! Obviously the doctor is old school - he has been called in by the Kemps when they find a man collapsed on their carpet and who is suffering from amnesia after being assaulted by a man he stopped to aid in what he thought was a hit and run accident.

Exclusive Pictures (even though connected with Hammer) were anything but. Even though they didn't have their own studio and moved from premises to premises (Oakley Court, Dial Close) they managed to turn out some pretty nifty crime movies. Before Exclusive broke with Hammer they made "Black Widow" based on the B.B.C. serial "Return From Darkness" and because of the distribution deal Exclusive had with United Artists there was the obligatory American star in Robert Ayres.

At just over 50 minutes there were so many loose ends and unanswered questions - the stranger is very knowledgeable around horses so Kemp assumes he may have had a farm but there isn't enough time to pursue that line. He does find a cinema stub in his coat pocket - from Epping so he retraces his steps and once he finds himself on the treed way to his house his memory just as mysteriously returns!!

Christine Norden, at one time being groomed for stardom until Diana Dors came on the scene, plays his scheming wife Christine. He is Mark Sherwin and it doesn't take him long to realise that his "turning up" is not exactly a time of rejoicing for his wife. She has been having an affair with his best friend and Mark, turning up the day of his own funeral, turns their plans upside down. Mark finally realises things are serious when a) his gun goes missing from it's usual place, b) the phone wire has been cut and c) he is asked to go down to the cellar just once too often!!! But like a good last minute rescue, Sheila Kemp has followed him to Epping and she is just in time for a nick of time ending!!

Biggest star of the movie would have to be John Longdon, (he plays Kemp) who in the early 1930s appeared in a few prestigious Hitchcock productions ie "Blackmail", "The Skin Game"(1931) as well as the later "Young and Innocent" (1937).