THIRD PARTY RISK (1954, aka THE DEADLY GAME) is another of Hammer's crime thrillers of the mid 1950s, this time one with a continental setting although most of the action takes place in dingy Bray Studios interiors. Imported American star Lloyd Bridges (whose offspring I think are much better actors) plays a war veteran whose old buddy asks him to drive his car back to London and also deliver a valuable envelope at the same time. When the same buddy turns up murdered, our star finds himself thrown into the thick of a sinister plot...
It's strictly routine stuff, of the kind enlivened by a typically decent Hammer supporting cast: you'll see the likes of George Woodbridge, Ferdy Mayne and Roger Delgado pop up here, the latter NOT playing a villain which makes a nice change; rather, he's the cop on the case. The main problem with this one is that despite the shortness of the running time it takes an age to get going, so that all of the fisticuffs and excitement feels rushed at the climax; more 'oomph' earlier on would have worked wonders.
It's strictly routine stuff, of the kind enlivened by a typically decent Hammer supporting cast: you'll see the likes of George Woodbridge, Ferdy Mayne and Roger Delgado pop up here, the latter NOT playing a villain which makes a nice change; rather, he's the cop on the case. The main problem with this one is that despite the shortness of the running time it takes an age to get going, so that all of the fisticuffs and excitement feels rushed at the climax; more 'oomph' earlier on would have worked wonders.