Shadow of a Man ** (1955, Paul Carpenter, Rona Anderson, Jane Griffiths, Tony Quinn, Ronald Leigh-Hunt) – Classic Movie Review 13,800

The 1955 British second feature crime drama film Shadow of a Man is written by Paul Erickson based on his stage play, and stars Paul Carpenter, Rona Anderson, Jane Griffiths and Tony Quinn.

Director Michael McCarthy’s 1955 British second feature crime drama film Shadow of a Man is written by Paul Erickson based on his stage play, and stars Paul Carpenter, Rona Anderson, Jane Griffiths, Tony Quinn, and Ronald Leigh-Hunt.

After a fisticuffs altercation in a nightclub, an objectionable drug-taking drunk character called Paul Bryant (Bill Nagy) is found dead at his home the following morning, but is the cause of death heart failure or murder? The coroner concludes it was a heart attack, but soon the police inspector receives a recent A1 medical report on the 31-year-old dead man, and now neither the police nor his newly arrived visiting American old friend Gene Landers (Paul Carpenter) are satisfied, and along with his badly treated widow Linda Bryant (Rona Anderson) and her friend Carol Seaton (Jane Griffiths) with whom Paul had an affair, they try to get to the bottom of it. If it was murder, several people could have done it, with reasons and opportunity.

Shadow of a Man is a hellishly creaky old Brit thriller, with a plot that’s complicated enough and reasonably ingenious enough to keep it interesting, even intriguing, and two or three very decent performances too, notably from Tony Quinn as the silky police inspector, and Paul Carpenter and Ronald-Leigh Hunt (playing Norman Farrel) as the two men in love with the drunk’s widow (Rona Anderson).

The men get by okay by keeping their performances low key and relatively realistic, but the women over-act like crazy, complete with old-style vocal performances that obviously have dated badly. It’s a shame because Rona Anderson and Jane Griffiths are both appealing performers, maybe just not ideally cast here. There’s a surprising amount of fisticuffs in fights that have dated badly, and, more interestingly, some fascinating extended location shooting in Hastings, a seaside town on the south coast of England, especially on and around the pier, incorporating the holiday crowds (so a film with 10 actors has a cast of thousands!), that adds much period allure.

Mostly related by the Paul Carpenter character, the story-telling is a bit muddled, because of a worthy but slightly fumbled attempt to reinvent stage play material for the screen, with additional scenes and dialogue by Michael McCarthy. Because of the play origins, the number of suspects is very small, and indeed the whole cast is very small for a movie, though the eventual reveal is satisfactory.

The unconvincing nightclub scenes are terribly cramped and studio bound (at Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey), and the singing of the cabaret singer (Rose Alba) is modest, along with the singer’s acting. Jackie Brown’s score is a bit intrusive and occasionally inappropriate. The nightclub owner Max (Robert O’Neil) is the one weak male performance.

There’s evidence of some imagination and thought having gone into the direction and black and white cinematography Geoffrey Faithfull. And, all in all, this low budget supporting film effort from E J Fancey Productions is pretty fancy, well fancy enough.

The cast are Paul Carpenter as Gene Landers, Rona Anderson as Linda Bryant, Jane Griffiths as Carol Seaton, Tony Quinn as Inspector Gates, Ronald Leigh-Hunt as Norman Farrel, Bill Nagy as Paul Bryant, Jack Taylor as Sergeant McBride, Robert O’Neil as Max, Diana Chesney as Mrs Carter, and Rose Alba as cabaret singer.

Shadow of a Man is directed by Michael McCarthy, runs 70 minutes, is made by E J Fancey Productions, is New Realm Pictures (UK), is written by Paul Erickson, based on his stage play, with additional scenes and dialogue by Michael McCarthy, is shot by Geoffrey Faithfull, is produced by E J Fancey, and is scored by Jackie Brown.

Release date: 28 February 1955.

British screenwriter Paul Erickson (22 November 1920 – 27 October 1991) scripted Three Steps to the Gallows (1953), The Green Carnation (1954), Track the Man Down (1955), Shadow of a Man (1955), Secret Venture (1955), Kill Her Gently (1957), and Night of the Prowler (1962).

The films of Jane Griffiths (16 October 1929 – 11 June 1975): Double Confession (1950), The Gambler and the Lady (1952), The Million Pound Note (1954), The Green Scarf (1954), Shadow of a Man (1956), The Traitor [The Accursed] (1957), Three Sundays to Live (1957), Tread Softly Stranger (1958), The Impersonator (1961), The Third Alibi (1961), The Durant Affair (1962), Dead Man’s Evidence (1962), The Double (1963).

The artwork for the original British 17 inch x 11 inch trade advertisement from Kinematograph Weekly for Shadow of a Man is by A ‘Jock’ W Hinchliffe. He was born in Perth, Scotland, and in 1953 he had a studio in Chalk Farm, North London, where he produced a series of six oil paintings as publicity for 20th Century Fox’s The Robe. He was hired by Fox in 1926 and produced posters and ads continuously for them, and for Disney, well into the 1960s.

In 2025, this was for sale at £79.50 from Rare Film Posters from Greg Edwards.

https://www.rarefilmposters.com/product/shadow-of-a-man/

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,800

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