What was noted American noir director Edward Dymtyrk doing making a picture in England? It turns out that he and one of his actors here, Phil Brown, were both blacklisted by HUAC in the late 40s. Unlike Dymtryk, who later had a change of heart and testified against his fellow Hollywood leftists who refused to name names before HUAC, Brown was forced to work across the Atlantic for years, before being permitted to return to the US.
Obsession (named The Hidden Room for the US release) is a fairly effective noirish crime drama starring a very believable Robert Newton as Dr. Clive Riordan, a London psychiatrist, who decides to get back at his philandering wife Storm (Sally Gray), by murdering her latest fling.
What is so good about the "avenging angel" Riordan is that he's quite charming and to a certain extent likeable as a man who is bent on committing the "perfect crime."
Riordan declares that Storm's latest conquest is the "last straw," so he chooses an American, Bill Kronin (Brown) as his victim. Riordan imprisons Kronin in a room in a deserted bombed out building and chains him to a wall. His plan isn't to torture his victim but rather keep him imprisoned and allow a good number of months to go by, until the police lose interest in the case.
He also needs the time to work with a set of chemicals in his lab to create an acid bath which he will place Kronin's body in after he murders him (and indeed at film's end he attempts the murder by lacing a thermos full of martinis which Kronin unwittingly imbibes).
In addition to Newton, the very British Nauton Wayne (with his dry wit) plays the investigating detective, Superintendent Finsbury, who picks up the cold case after receiving an anonymous letter from Storm explicating her concerns that her husband was involved in Kronin's disappearance (her beliefs are based on threats Riordan made against Kronin in her presence during the first act of the narrative in which he held the hapless American at gunpoint before leaving his residence together).
Another very clever scene which convinces Finsbury that Kronin is still alive and is when his memory is sparked after overhearing a few American Navy seamen talking while casually passing them on the street-it's their colloquial English that reminds him that Riordan oddly used the word "pal" during their earlier conversation which made him believe that Riordan spent a good amount of time with an American.
The weak aspect of Obsession is Sally Gray's role as Storm. One wonders why she would remain with her husband all the while believing he was responsible for Kronin's disappearance. Somehow he convinces Storm that her reputation will be destroyed If she does go to the police and reveals the information about her husband's threats against Kronin and the use of the gun.
When Storm's dog Monty (whom she's very attached to) disappears and she suspects her husband, she still doesn't go to the police about her suspicions. Finally she sends the anonymous letter but doesn't notify the police directly at the beginning, which doesn't seem quite believable.
A few other questions remain as to the credibility of the plot. How exactly for example does Riordan chain Kronin to the wall? Does he knock him out with some kind of sedative first?
Obsession is somewhat lugubrious as is the manner of many of these British potboilers, but there's a great deal of witty repartee particularly in the clever banter between Newton and Brown. Only Gray gets short shrift here, especially when her character disappears for a good chunk of time towards the last third of the film.
With its charming killer, witty police inspector and a loveable canine, Obsession manages to draw you in quite satisfactorily, despite the limitations of the female role here.
Obsession (named The Hidden Room for the US release) is a fairly effective noirish crime drama starring a very believable Robert Newton as Dr. Clive Riordan, a London psychiatrist, who decides to get back at his philandering wife Storm (Sally Gray), by murdering her latest fling.
What is so good about the "avenging angel" Riordan is that he's quite charming and to a certain extent likeable as a man who is bent on committing the "perfect crime."
Riordan declares that Storm's latest conquest is the "last straw," so he chooses an American, Bill Kronin (Brown) as his victim. Riordan imprisons Kronin in a room in a deserted bombed out building and chains him to a wall. His plan isn't to torture his victim but rather keep him imprisoned and allow a good number of months to go by, until the police lose interest in the case.
He also needs the time to work with a set of chemicals in his lab to create an acid bath which he will place Kronin's body in after he murders him (and indeed at film's end he attempts the murder by lacing a thermos full of martinis which Kronin unwittingly imbibes).
In addition to Newton, the very British Nauton Wayne (with his dry wit) plays the investigating detective, Superintendent Finsbury, who picks up the cold case after receiving an anonymous letter from Storm explicating her concerns that her husband was involved in Kronin's disappearance (her beliefs are based on threats Riordan made against Kronin in her presence during the first act of the narrative in which he held the hapless American at gunpoint before leaving his residence together).
Another very clever scene which convinces Finsbury that Kronin is still alive and is when his memory is sparked after overhearing a few American Navy seamen talking while casually passing them on the street-it's their colloquial English that reminds him that Riordan oddly used the word "pal" during their earlier conversation which made him believe that Riordan spent a good amount of time with an American.
The weak aspect of Obsession is Sally Gray's role as Storm. One wonders why she would remain with her husband all the while believing he was responsible for Kronin's disappearance. Somehow he convinces Storm that her reputation will be destroyed If she does go to the police and reveals the information about her husband's threats against Kronin and the use of the gun.
When Storm's dog Monty (whom she's very attached to) disappears and she suspects her husband, she still doesn't go to the police about her suspicions. Finally she sends the anonymous letter but doesn't notify the police directly at the beginning, which doesn't seem quite believable.
A few other questions remain as to the credibility of the plot. How exactly for example does Riordan chain Kronin to the wall? Does he knock him out with some kind of sedative first?
Obsession is somewhat lugubrious as is the manner of many of these British potboilers, but there's a great deal of witty repartee particularly in the clever banter between Newton and Brown. Only Gray gets short shrift here, especially when her character disappears for a good chunk of time towards the last third of the film.
With its charming killer, witty police inspector and a loveable canine, Obsession manages to draw you in quite satisfactorily, despite the limitations of the female role here.