source: Impulse

Impulse

Arthur Kennedy,the parachuted in American actor,is supposed to be an estate agent in rural Sussex.So you start on a rather fanciful note.Unhappily married,his wife prefers to visit mother rather than go to Paris.Kennedy manages to get involved with the nefarious activities of Smith and her convict brother.He gets into all sorts of scrapes,as estate agents are wont to do,even to the extent of bribing a ships captain to spirit him and Smith out of the country.Eventually caught by the police he confesses all including the supposed murder of the brother.Only it turns out he didn't murder her.Smith confesses and Kennedy is free to go home to understanding wife.Too long and too fanciful

As always, the shabby streets, the little shops, Ron's cafe, the bombsites, the grimy rooms - are the real star. There are some good slimy villains, and Alan Curtis's humdrum business partner is not only well acted but turns out to be far more perceptive than we guessed. Alan Curtis is lucky enough to be married to Joy Shelton, wearing the "cast-iron permanent" of the respectable woman (copyright Raymond Chandler). But she can talk of nothing but visits to mother and the bargains she's picked up at the "jumble sale" - she seems to spend her life shopping. For fun, they play bridge with their toothy next-door neighbour. Alan is looking for excitement, but gets more than he bargained for. But at the end he returns to his perfect 30s bungalow with its sunburst stained glass.

First, this film was directed by the great Cy Endfield under his black listed name: Charles de La Tour, he used for a couple of other features. This film is a crime drama film about an ordinary happy married man who falls for a woman he picked up along a road on a rainy night, when the girl had problems with her car. Of course, the gal in question hid our lead that she had a boy friend, a petty jewel thief. That's when his problems begin. You can guess the following, but it's worth, especially when you know it's directed by the film maker who gave us ZULU some years later. A good gem.

An estate agent in a small town Alan Curtis becomes unsettled with his staid life and when his wife is away becomes entangled with night club singer Lila who is involved with stolen diamonds and a man on the run. He gets deeper into her affairs with many twists and turns. It's a decent film but not very exciting as the actions of the main protagonists always seem rather silly. No one would really behave like that. Imported American actor Arthur Kennedy is tolerable as Curtis but is overshadowed by Constance Smith as the enigmatic and beautiful Lila. The rest of the acting is standard. It does have Sam Kydd but he only appears for thirty seconds inspecting tickets and it does have Michael Balfour but again he only has a short scene but it's good to see them as always. It's a bit like a film noir but a hesitant one. It needed more zing.

Estate agent Arthur Kennedy learns the hard way to be careful what you wish for when he laments he's getting into a rut in this nifty, well-photographed little Tempean potboiler with attractive London locations probably inspired by 'D.O.A'. Kennedy is a far more interesting actor than the usual imported American you'll find in this sort of nonsense and quicker than you can say "briefcase" he's to his neck in a plot involving a flint-hearted femme fatale in cahoots with criminals after stolen diamonds that you'll probably find as bewildering as he does.

While his wife goes to London, a yankee (Arthur Kennedy) meets a beautiful lady (the sexy Constance Smith) and helps her with her damaged car. But everything gets more and more and more complicated. And she's so beautiful he cannot resist. Quite classic, but it's a true film noir story, directed with punch in usual settings but with so much efficiency, so many twists, as so often in british realistic film noir. Arthur Kennedy and Constance Smith live a strange love story, I wish the end would have been stronger. Yes, Cyril Enfield was a good director.

Alan Curtis has reached a point in his life where he's bored with the everyday, his job and wife no longer satisfy him, one night he comes to the aid of a beautiful young woman Lila, and makes a decision that transforms his life. I'm really surprised by the mainly mediocre reviews for this film, I personally really enjoyed it. It morphs from a melodrama with light comedy into a crime thriller, some really fine performances, Arthur Kennedy was wonderfully charismatic, and had a wonderful speaking voice. Jean St Clair was huge fun as the lusting next door neighbour. Constance Smith was undoubtedly the star of the show, such a beauty. It was an interesting character study, how a perfectly decent and sorted man could be dazzled seemingly to commit murder by a beautiful woman. If I have one major criticism it would have to be the ending, why on Earth did't Joy throw his packed suitcase at him.