Prime Time: Cast A Dark Shadow (1955)

Dirk Bogarde is a ladykiller. That's not a spoiler. It's clear from the very first scenes of Cast A Dark Shadow. Bogarde plays Edward, a man who is married to the much wealthier, and much older, Monica (Mona Washbourne). He arranges for her to die in a way that looks like an accident, hoping to be the main recipient of her wealth. Things don't go entirely according to plan, but it doesn't leave Edward in a terrible situation. While still pretending to mourn the loss of his wife, he sets his sights on a new target, a widow named Freda (Margaret Lockwood). Freda has wealth, but she likes to ensure that their relationship is always managed 50/50, which leads to Edward potentially lining up his next victim, a woman named Charlotte (Kay Walsh).

Based on a play, "Murder Mistaken", by Janet Green, this is a wonderfully entertaining thriller that wrings humour out of the fact that our lead, a dastardly villain who just happens to have the charm and handsome looks of Bogarde, is driven into a greater state of desperation and impatience with every moment that sees him not being immediately rewarded for his misdeeds. It's not a film laced with obvious comedy, but it does seem to encourage viewers to relish Edward beginning to wriggle and thrash around as the worsening situation closes around him like a fishing net.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert, who has some great films tucked away later in his filmography (including a few Bond movies and Alfie, which features a character who could have easily taken a path to turn him into this character), this is a film that doesn’t take long to get going at all and then manages to maintain a brisk pace all the way to a fitting ending. The script by John Cresswell is twisted and witty, especially once Edward meets Freda, and this is a film that enjoys watching the main character deal with others around him, be they potential victims, a suspicious solicitor (played by Robert Flemyng), or even just a house servant (Kathleen Harrison) who needs coached and nudged in certain directions.

Bogarde shines in the main role, one that makes the most of his charm and allows him to convey an inner darkness, which he did successfully a number of times. Lockwood brings a different energy to the film, and she is a worthy “opponent” to Bogarde, with the two characters at times feeling very suitable for one another. Flemyng does well, and is allowed to be the one person suspicious of Bogarde’s character from the very start, and Walsh throws a spanner in the work in the third act, making you wonder what exactly the next move from our central character will be. Although she has the least amount of screentime, Washbourne does as well as everyone else, a sweet and oblivious victim who thinks she is set for a long period of happiness in her twilight years.

The ending, like so many from the yesteryear of cinema, is quite predictable, going by the code used to ensure that things always end with the needle of the moral compass pointing back to “true North”, but it is no less enjoyable for it.

Wonderful stuff, featuring a main character who you want to see get his comeuppance, but not until he has managed to dig himself into a much deeper hole as he grows more and more ill-tempered.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Accident (1967)

Although there are many similarities between this and The Servant (Losey directing, Pinter on the writing duties, Bogarde the star at the heart of things, the exploration of a very twisted situation intertwined with an essence of particular Britishness), Accident is also interesting for how much it does differently from that film. Everything is much more subtle, much more restrained, but that serves to highlight how much every word is loaded, and how everyone moves through society with the protection, and sometimes hindrance, of their own class role.

Bogarde plays Stephen, an Oxford professor. He takes an interest in a couple of his student. One is William (Michael York). The other is Anna (Jacqueline Sassard). William likes Anna very much. Unfortunately, Anna has also caught the eye of another professor (Charley, played by Stanley Baker). And so we get a tale told in flashback that shows the Laura-like effect Anna has on all the various men around her.

Based on the novel by Nicholas Mosley, Accident is a story that is worked by Pinter and Losey, because both complement one another perfectly, into something that plays out in a controlled and sedate manner, for the most part, with occasional moments to shock that are so effective it ends up taking you an extra minute or two to properly process what you've just watched. That is especially applicable to the way things unfold in the third act.

Bogarde is his usual good self, putting himself forward as a good man, despite the fact that his actions belie his self-image. Baker is superb, the more obvious baddie in a film that actually has very few good people in it, either due to direct actions or the inaction that enables certain behaviour. And York gives a performance slightly removed from his better-known roles. There's an insecurity sitting hidden beneath his usual layers of cockiness and charm, and he seems to be trying to both impress the professors around him while also competing against them at times. Sassard is perfect in her role, probably best described, certainly in the 1960s, as a "bewitching, exotic beauty". She has the look, and a lovely accent, but she also does very good work in the scenes that ask more of her. Vivien Merchant is the wife of Bogarde's character, and she embodies the old-fashioned kind of good wife who will support her husband without wanting to look any closer at some of his bad behaviour. Those who go looking for evidence of misdeeds may not like what they find.

A twisted and tragic tale, and also one that almost encourages you to observe and laugh at some of the ridiculous notions thought up by mature men who should know better, when not in the grip of infatuation, Accident is still depressingly relevant today. Married men excited by the prospect of young women who may take a fleeting interest in them, people projecting their own feelings and desires on to others, the husbands who think they are maintaining a fine marriage because everything is fine at home while they enjoy their indiscreet affairs, all of these things happen just as much now as they did back in the 1960s. So you're best to watch this film and remind yourself to avoid that kind of behaviour.

8/10

Mubi Monday: The Servant (1963)

A dark and brooding British drama, looking at the class divide and the expert manipulation of one individual by another, The Servant is uncomfortable viewing during many of the main scenes, and a bit of a classic.

Dirk Bogarde plays Barrett, a man hired by Tony (James Fox) to be his servant. Initially appearing to be quite the perfect choice for the role, Barrett is soon shown to be working on a scheme to make his life a lot better. This will involve getting a job for Vera (Sarah Miles), a woman he pretends is his sister, and trying to make the most of the household whenever he is not having to undertake the main duties of his role. Tony thinks he has found a perfect employee, while his girlfriend (Susan, played by Wendy Craig) smells a rat.

Based on a novel by Robin Maugham, The Servant was adapted into screenplay form by celebrated playwright Harold Pinter, and directed by Joseph Losey. Both men know exactly what they're doing as they dive deeper and deeper into the nightmarish atmosphere created by someone who should be a trusted member of staff. The framing of the character shows the constant, and fluid, power battle, and many individual scenes look gorgeous, even while depicting people trying to wallow in some of their more base pleasures.

There are times when Barrett is quietly and subtly making things worse for his employer, just through a "careless" word here and there, or appearing at an inopportune moment, and then there are times when Barrett is more brazen in showing his attitude. He clearly doesn't want to be a servant, but it seems to be his designated lot in life, and that may be impossible to change.

Bogarde is superb in his role, all charm and humility at the start, sliding into a more menacing persona as the plot starts to take shape. Fox is comfortable in his role, and does well in showing the kind of attitude of someone who tries to keep blinkers on while things around him start to get worse. Miles is a good match for Bogarde, and Craig excels as the only one who sees the truth of what is going on.

Commenting on class, of course, and the fact that so many "invisible" workers can hold so much power and confidence in their relationship with their employers, The Servant is a film that will also resonate with anyone who has ever been in a situation that had friends who took advantage of a bad situation while it was fun for them to be tagging along for the ride. It's a superb film, one that will haunt you long after it ends, and still feels fresh and relevant today, despite being specifically set in a fairly bygone Britain.

9/10

You can buy the movie here.