I See a Dark Stranger (1946)

the audience applauded

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Quite good - intriguing and amusing. Starts slowly, and without any apparent focus, but gets better and better as it goes on. Initially looks like a weak political-drama, but then evolves into an intriguing spy drama, plus develops a comedic side (in some ways parodying the spy drama genre). After moving slowly in the first half, the second half rollicks along.Solid performance by Deborah Kerr in the lead role. Good support from Trevor Howard. The best comedic moments involve Garry Marsh and Tom Macaulay.

Odd Combination of Wartime Espionage, Political Intrigue, Nationalism, Film-Noir, and Slapstick. Not Surprisingly Not All of it Worked so Well. Deborah Kerr is an Irish Beauty who Hates the Brits and is Loathsome of Cromwell (much humor is made of this) and is Out to Join the IRA for Some Payback.It's Convoluted Plot Waivers, Confuses, and the Humor Never Meshes. This is One that the Parts are Better than the Whole. Trevor Howard is a Doting and Bland Waste and has a Lot of Screen Time and that Doesn't Help. The Nazi Spies are the Best Part and the Scenes where They are in Full Evil Mode are what Keeps the Movie Afloat. Along with the Effervescent Kerr.Only the Brits Could Find a Horse and Buggy Chase (this is WWII not Sherlock Holmes) Very Exciting and the Bathroom Fight in the End is Just Out of Place and Embarrassing. Overall, Worth a Watch for Kerr, but Film-Noir, Spy, and WWII Fans are Likely to be Divided. Offbeat and Historically Interesting Enough to be Something Special, but as Entertainment and a Full Fledged Film, Not So Much.

Enjoyed seeing how young Deborah Kerr appeared in this picture at the age of twenty-four years. Deborah plays the role as Birdie Quilty who works in her families pub in England and heard all kinds of stories told by people who visited the pub about how Ireland fought against the British years ago and she starts to form a hated toward the English Government. Birdie becomes of age and wants to go to Dublin, Ireland to live and work and she meets up with some very strange people who have listened to Birdie talk about England and they decide to utilize her hatred towards the British Nation for their own benefits. Birdie finds herself in some very difficult situations until she meets up with a British Lt. David Baynes, (Trevor Howard) who seems to fall madly in love with Birdie at first seeing her and on other dates, it becomes serious. However, Birdie has so many dark secrets that she does not want to show any affections towards David and this still does not stop David from following her from one country to another. This is a very great film with plenty of funny moments and at other times can be very dark and mysterious. Enjoy.

I don't usually go for old movies, but I saw this one today (I hadn't even heard of it before and the name sounded ridiculous). But I must say I eventually found the movie to be quite engaging. It's Deborah Kerr's show all the way. Trevor Howard was someone whose name I'd heard and I was a bit surprised at how he looked! I always thought leading men of the 50s were supposed to be very handsome, like Gregory Peck or Mongomery Clift. The best scene in this movie is where Deborah is wheeling this dead body from a hotel to the cliffs to dispose of it. On the way she passes by a cinema (or is it a play house) where the show's just finished and a stream of people come out. Then there's a cad who makes a move on her and then there's policeman who rescues her and then tries to talk to the dead body (who she's trying to pass off as her wheelchair bound grandfather).