Take My Life (1947)

Wonderful character development!

Brilliant and touching

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

I agree with most of the other reviewers on how stylishly this film is acted and directed. But the (predictable spoiler warning) misleading coincidences leading to the false accusation are too unlikely to be believable; I'm afraid the protagonist must have been guilty. And the further coincidences leading to the supposed bad guy are so implausible, and the obstacles facing the intrepid but dim heroine so preposterously handled, that suspension of belief is impossible.

I found this a very quick-paced thriller. Neame's camera work found fresh ways to do clichéd scenes. So many movies are described as 'Hitchcockian', but rarely deliver the Master's unique touch. I don't find Neame's work here a ripoff of Hitch's genre, but rather an homage to the great director.Like Sir Alfred, Neame has the wrong man accused of murder. In fact, male lead Hugh Williams is quite ineffectual at any sort of defense, since the movie opens with him on trial for murder and quickly found guilty. That the fine British character actor Francis L. Sullivan is given such a short role as prosecuting attorney is fine with me. He is cleverly used to state his case against the defendant, leading into flashbacks of the drama as it really happened.This leaves the lovely Greta Gynt to portray opera star and first class detective. Yet another Hitchcock theme is revealed as the cops and the justice system yet again fail an innocent man. It's up to Ms. Gynt to sort out the clues that lead to the real killer.The train sequences definitely reminded me of Hitchcock's 'The Lady Vanishes', and there is a plot twist near the end which is quite delicious.I suggest that previous reviewers who found nothing interesting in this movie must have been half asleep during their viewing. I was riveted by Neame's work with the camera, and it's definitely a movie worth a second look. Williams as the male lead is fairly useless, a handsome man who could easily be taken as a ne'er do well living off his wife's successful operatic career. So it is up to the strong performance of Gynt's character to drive the story to its compelling end.This movie has been described as 'film noir', but I see it as more of a 'thriller'. And like the best of Hitchcock's suspense films, this one delivers.

Made in that wartime and post-war black and white era when British movies at least looked good, employed fine character actors and dressed the cast glamorously. Greta Gynt may not be the world's greatest actress but she makes the most of her deadpan, slightly skewed beauty and nasal, refined voice. (Was English her first language?)She convinces least as the star of a ghastly modern opera (music by William Alwyn) in this tale of a man wrongly accused of murder.There's not much suspense. We know from the start that Marius Goring dunnit. And it's always good to see Rosalie Crutchley, who was quite a dish in her day. xxxx

Nicholas Talbot is the husband and manager of wealthy opera singer Phillipa Shelley. Tensions in the marriage are raised when Nicholas meets Elizabeth, an old flame, after a show. Hours later Elizabeth is killed at her flat with Nicholas not having an alibi. On trial for murder he looks to be heading for certain imprisonment – but Phillipa starts following her own clues in an attempt to uncover the truth.I didn't have a clue what this was about until I watched it – so I had no preconceptions about it. It seemed to start well enough as the stall was laid out and clues were shown. However it quickly became dull and only really got better when the wife started looking for clues herself. However the thing that actually helps her find the real killer is such an absurd plot twist that it's more silly than anything else. The final 10 minutes are good but can't make this anything more than a dull mystery.The cast are quite good but don't really have any character. I thought the fat lawyer character would play a bigger role and potentially have character a la Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution, however he didn't. Similarly the accused and his wife are quite cardboard.Overall it's not terrible but it has nothing whatsoever that will stay in your memory. Not really worth watching.