...because the actions of Dr. Clive Riordan (Robert Newton) are crazy and even misaimed. I am speaking of the alternate title of this film - Obsession. Dr. Riordan has a wife that is a chronic cheater, almost beyond amateur status. She has cheated on him with a multitude of men. Yet he picks just this one paramour - American Bill Kronin - to heap his anger upon. He even admits that he is a random victim, the last straw so to speak. He kidnaps Bill and holds him in a small room in a vacant building in a semi deserted part of London. His plan is to hold him there for a few months until inquiries about his disappearance die down. If suspicion should somehow fall on the doctor during these months, he can produce Bill unharmed. But how to dispose of the body? The doctor has produced an acid that will dissolve human bone, skin, and organs, but not plumbing. He plans to shoot Bill, dismember him, put his body in the acid bath, and merely flush him in liquid form down the drain.
The hideous part is that he tells Bill all of this. And maybe this is not the brightest thing to do either. In the mean time Riordan goes about his life. But his wife suspects her husband's involvement in Bill's disappearance, and calls Scotland Yard. And now suddenly Riordan has the British version of Columbo on his hands - "Just one more thing....". So the bulk of this movie is a psychological thriller, a battle of wits between Riordan and a Scotland Yard inspector, and another between Riordan and the captive Bill.
So RIordan is truly obsessed. He seems to like Bill, the intended victim. His cheating wife is probably still going to always cheat, Bill or no Bill. So all of this activity just boils down to his iron willed desire to perform the perfect murder.
Phil Brown, the actor who portrayed Bill, had an incredible likeness to Lew Ayres. Their voices are almost identical too. This is absolutely riveting with lots of twists and turns, though a couple of scenes were either not shot or cut from the print I saw, because it seemed some action later described was missing. I watched this because Edward Dmytryk was the director and he seldom disappoints.
The hideous part is that he tells Bill all of this. And maybe this is not the brightest thing to do either. In the mean time Riordan goes about his life. But his wife suspects her husband's involvement in Bill's disappearance, and calls Scotland Yard. And now suddenly Riordan has the British version of Columbo on his hands - "Just one more thing....". So the bulk of this movie is a psychological thriller, a battle of wits between Riordan and a Scotland Yard inspector, and another between Riordan and the captive Bill.
So RIordan is truly obsessed. He seems to like Bill, the intended victim. His cheating wife is probably still going to always cheat, Bill or no Bill. So all of this activity just boils down to his iron willed desire to perform the perfect murder.
Phil Brown, the actor who portrayed Bill, had an incredible likeness to Lew Ayres. Their voices are almost identical too. This is absolutely riveting with lots of twists and turns, though a couple of scenes were either not shot or cut from the print I saw, because it seemed some action later described was missing. I watched this because Edward Dmytryk was the director and he seldom disappoints.