''Faces in the Dark'' is a 1960 black and white British

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by David Eady and starring

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. He was cr ...

Mai Zetterling Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actor. Early life Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at D ...

and

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

. The film is based on the 1952 novel ''Les Visages de l'ombre'' by

Boileau-Narcejac Boileau-Narcejac is the pen name used by the prolific French crime-writing duo of Pierre Boileau (28 April 1906 – 16 January 1989) and Pierre Ayraud, aka Thomas Narcejac (3 July 1908 – 7 June 1998). Their successful collaboration produced 43 ...

Plot

Richard Hammond, an aggressive and ambitious business mogul and inventor with little or no time for his wife, friends or family, is blinded in an explosion on the same day that his long-suffering wife had planned to leave him. He becomes bitter at life. His wife is a devious woman and is plotting, with her lover, in an attempt to make her husband think he's going insane, in the hope that he will take his own life and leave them free to pursue their illicit affair in peace. As he is blind when he encounters the lovers in bed the man just has to stay silent to evade detection. Hammond gets wise to their plan.

Cast

as Richard Hammond *

as Christiane Hammond *

as Max Hammond * Michael Denison as David Merton * Tony Wright as Clem *

Nanette Newman Nanette Newman (born 29 May 1934) is an English actress and author. She appeared in nine films directed by her husband Bryan Forbes, including ''Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), '' The Whisperers'' (1967), '' Deadfall'' (1968), '' The Stepf ...

as Janet * Valerie Taylor as Miss Hopkins * Roland Bartrop as French Doctor

Production

The film was shot at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...

with sets designed by the art director Anthony Masters. A collection of location stills and corresponding contemporary photographs is hosted at reelstreets.com.

Critical reception

The '' Radio Times'' wrote "this tale of blindness and rage should have been a real nail-biter. Sadly, ex-documentary director David Eady simply doesn't have the thriller instinct and throws away countless opportunities to make the tension unbearable." However, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' wrote that "The film has some pot-holes, but the chilling climax is smooth as glass"; and Allmovie noted "Although there may be a few minor gaps here and there in the storyline, ''Faces in the Dark'' is a suspenseful drama."

References

External links

*
Drewe Shimon review
1960 films Films based on works by Boileau-Narcejac Films based on French novels Films directed by David Eady 1960s thriller films British thriller films Films about blind people Films scored by Mikis Theodorakis Films shot at Shepperton Studios 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{1960s-thriller-film-stub