After finding Don't Take It to Heart! (1944-also reviewed) to be a really interesting Fantasy Comedy,I was excited to discover on Talking Pictures free online catch-up service, a film by Jeffrey Dell that I had not heard of before, leading to me going down to the farm.
View on the film:
The first and only time they would work together, the screenplay by husband and wife Jeffrey Dell & Jill Craigie thoughtfully express the pressure Duclos (played by a chiseled Clifford Evans) comes under, when attempting to walk undercover in Belgium during the Occupation. Based on a real event during WWII, the writers cleverly make Duclos's attempt to retrieve a flag, be hoisted by Duclos's belief that raising the flag represents a symbol of freedom, and a clear, visible victory against the Nazis.
Working for the first of three times together, Jeffrey Dell makes his excellent directing debut by closely working with cinematographer Eric Cross, and pointing towards the Film Noir stylization they would later reach with The Dark Man (1951-also reviewed), via surrealist, winding camera moves of fellow British air corps members watching Duclos set off, expertly framed reflected long-shots, displaying Duclos fear of being caught, and what's secretly going on behind him, shattering into an inventive tussle caught in distorted shots, as Duclos crosses the Flemish farm.
View on the film:
The first and only time they would work together, the screenplay by husband and wife Jeffrey Dell & Jill Craigie thoughtfully express the pressure Duclos (played by a chiseled Clifford Evans) comes under, when attempting to walk undercover in Belgium during the Occupation. Based on a real event during WWII, the writers cleverly make Duclos's attempt to retrieve a flag, be hoisted by Duclos's belief that raising the flag represents a symbol of freedom, and a clear, visible victory against the Nazis.
Working for the first of three times together, Jeffrey Dell makes his excellent directing debut by closely working with cinematographer Eric Cross, and pointing towards the Film Noir stylization they would later reach with The Dark Man (1951-also reviewed), via surrealist, winding camera moves of fellow British air corps members watching Duclos set off, expertly framed reflected long-shots, displaying Duclos fear of being caught, and what's secretly going on behind him, shattering into an inventive tussle caught in distorted shots, as Duclos crosses the Flemish farm.