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| ROOM TO LET (1950) |
Who?
Director: Godfrey Grayson
Producer: Anthony Hinds
Screenplay: Godfrey Grayson & John Gilling
Cast: Jimmy Hanley, Valentine Dyall, Constance Smith, Christine Silver, Merle Tottenham, Charles Hawtrey, Aubrey Dexter, J.A, La Penna, Reginald Dyson, Charles Mander, Cyril Conway, Lawrence Naismith, John Clifford, Stuart Saunders, Charles Houston
How?
In 1949 Hammer began production on an adaption of a BBC television play, Jack the Ripper, by noted mystery writer Margery Allingham. It was the second of five Hammer features to be shot at Oakley Court studios, with Anthony Hinds producing, Godfrey Grayson directing (the seventh of his nine consecutive Hammer pictures), and John Gilling co-writing, with Grayson, the second of his Hammer features. Gilling would, of course, go on to direct some notable pictures for Hammer, such as The Reptile (1966) and Plague of the Zombies (1966). Cinematographer Cedric Williams returned for the last of his seven Hammer pictures. Valentine Dyall was brought back after The Man in Black to star in his second Hammer picture of 1950, along with Irish actress Constance Smith, former child-star Jimmy Hanley (whose daughter Jenny would later star in Hammer's The Scars of Dracula (1970)), and Charles Hawtrey (of later Carry on... fame).
What?
Over drinks with two friends elderly ex-reporter Curley Minter (Hanley) is persuaded to tell the story of his final newspaper investigation in 1904, and so he reluctantly recounts what happened... Following a fire at the local asylum Minter (Hanley) hears the dying words of the nightwatchman, who tells him that the fire was started deliberately by one of the patients, who then escaped. The asylum director, who had initially claimed a patient was missing, now mysteriously insists that all are accounted for, and Curley's piece on the mystery is dropped from his paper. Determined to get to the bottom of it Curley begins his own investigation. Meanwhile, a Dr Fell (Dyall) has answered the Room To Let notice which wheelchair-bound Mrs Musgrave (Silver) and her daughter Molly (Smith), a friend of Curley, have reluctantly placed, and has paid for three months in advance. Before long, however, Fell begins controlling the lives of the two women and their household, until they are living in fear. Curley begins to suspect that Fell may be the mysterious missing patient, but even more disturbing is the revelation that he may in fact be none other than Jack the Ripper himself...
So?
Room To Let was to be, it turned out, the first of Hammer's treatments of the Jack the Ripper myth (to be followed much later in 1971 by Hands of the Ripper and Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde), and it is a notable picture in that many of the elements of Hammer's later Gothic horrors begin to emerge here in style, lighting, mood, etc. Only running to just over one hour Room is a captivating, if perhaps rather crude, little psychological chiller. It is constructed as a 'whodunnit', the prologue setting the scene with an elderly Hanley telling his tale, with the omission of a central murder, and the epilogue in which one of those listening constructs a theory which explains the murder. All a little contrived, with a neat happy ending, but the meat of the film lies in the story which Hanley relates. One might imagine a tale of Jack the Ripper would be focused on his deeds, his murders, but that's not the case here. Room is more understated, more concerned with the psychological character of the supposed Jack himself and his domination of the two central female characters, which is just as, if not more, enthralling. Supporting this tale is a wonderfully moody atmosphere that the film manages to construct through lighting, camera angles, etc which wonderfully conveys the claustrophobic atmosphere within the house and the psychological battle going on there.
The success of the picture, however, can be put down to the eerily powerful performance of Valentine Dyall as Dr Fell. Dyall portrays Fell as a disturbingly frightening figure - quiet and measured, showing little emotion, but always with the undertone that he is barely keeping himself in control - that underneath the calm exterior lies the possibility of horrific violence. He becomes a deeply threatening figure to the women of the house, exerting such influence and power over them that they live in fear in their own home - unable to do anything to get rid of Fell and living only for the end of his three months. The viewer, however, knows that this will not mark the end of Fell but only the beginning; the beginning of his 'plans' which he is meticulously putting together so that he may 'start again'. Among the rest of the cast, Constance Smith plays a pleasant and feisty daughter, Christine Silver comes into her own in the final confontation with Fell, and Jimmy Hanley gives a serviceable (if perhaps miscast) performance as the 'hero'. It is unfortunate that Charles Hawtrey is forever saddled with his Carry On persona but he does little in this to show anything different, and he's basically light relief. In the end, though, the film revolves around Fell and the women, much to its advantage.
While Godrey Grayson's direction has an unfortunate stagey feel, he does add some nice touches. Fell is invariably shot from a low angle, heightening his sense of domination over the women. The use of light and darkness in the house as Fell and the women quietly struggle for control over the lamps and blinds. And a few scenes in particular stand out, such as Fell's discovery of Molly hiding in his room, and Mrs Musgrave's final confrontation with Fell as they are alone in the house together. And while slow-moving the film never drags, but succeeds well in racking up the tension. When the final confrontation takes place, however, it is over so quickly that it is perhaps a bit of a let-down. In all, Grayson and Gilling are to be commended for not dwelling salaciously on what Fell could have been doing, but rather on what he may be building himself up to do, and indeed what he may be capable of. His psychological domination of the women is perhaps merely an extension of the ultimate domination which the Ripper sought to have over his victims and, as such, Fell is a truly frightening character. While the film would perhaps have benefited without the prologue and epilogue, and the 'locked room' mystery, it is still a worthwhile little thriller that manages to evoke an atmosphere that some of Hammer's later bigger budget pictures failed to do.
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