A Life at Stake – Movie Review
Synopsis: An out-of-work architect meets a married woman who has a business proposition for him. The architect begins to suspect that the woman’s interest in him is not just financial and–and might actually be deadly.
Rating: Not-Rated
Run Time: 1 Hr. 10 Min.
Director: Paul Guilfoyle
Nudity Factor: None
Of Note: The unusual convertible Doris Hillman (Dame Angela Lansbury) drove was a Kaiser Darrin. Only 435 production Darrins and six prototypes were built. Its entry doors slid on tracks into the front fender wells behind the front wheels, which was patented in 1946, had no side windows and a three-position Landau top. The car’s only criticism by enthusiasts was the front grill, which looked like it “wanted to give you a kiss.”
Recommendations:
I can be tough to talk about a movie that is over 65+ years old. This film falls into the Film Noir category. It has Angela Lansbury in it and follows an out of work architect. He gets an offer that seems too good to be true. When a random person enters his life and wants to fund a company that will have them both making a lot of money. It is all good until they insist on taking out a life insurance policy. More red flags start to pop up when some incidents start to happen that are questionable.
Overall, I enjoyed this film. It does not have the same pop that modern day films have, but it certainly has acting that we don’t find anymore. The acting carries this film. It is refreshing to see acting carrying the story instead of fancy special effects and extreme amounts of polish. It could be a challenge for some to go back and watch a black and white film, but it is rewarding to see how things were done before computers did all the work.