I See A Dark Stranger
You know Deborah Kerr as the finely regal actress of her later career; you may not know the vibrant, sexy redhead of younger days.I See a Dark Strangershould rectify that. (But do also see the Powell-Pressburger triumphs that bookend it,The Life and Death of Colonel BlimpandBlack Narcissus.) This delightful picture comes from the deft duo of Frank Launder and Sydney Gilliat, who excelled at comic suspense. Kerr plays Bridie Quilty, an Irish lass bred to loathe the English, who ends up spying for the Germans during World War II (only because they're against the English and the IRA wouldn't take her). This curious premise leads to delicious intrigue, as Bridie finds herself dumping a body off an English seacoast cliff and chasing around the Isle of Man with two bald policemen named Goodhusband and Spanswick. Trevor Howard tags along, but this is Kerr's show, and she is smashing.--Robert Horton