Theatrical release: August 3, 1949 (Great Britain).
Theatrical release: January 8, 1950 (United States).
Product Notes
Edward Dmytryk directed this highly acclaimed suspense yarn while in England after being blacklisted as a member of the Hollywood Ten. The story concerns a maniacal English doctor (Robert Newton) who is so crazed with jealousy over his faithless wife (Sally Gray) that he kidnaps her American lover (Phil Brown) and locks him in a secret room with plans to torture him and eventually dispose of his corpse in a vat of acid.
Robert Newton (Long John Silver in Disney's 1950 version of TREASURE ISLAND) is nicely over the top as the insane husband, but the most enjoyable performance is from Naunton Wayne as the Scotland Yard superintendent who casually noses around the case. Dmytryk keeps the tension running high with this adaptation of the Alec Coppel play A MAN ABOUT A DOG (which is itself a loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Black Cat"). It's considered a forgotten suspense classic in the Hitchcock vein and worth seeking out by fans of the genre.
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