CLOUDBURST

 

Last night Turner Classic Movies showed the 1951 British film CLOUDBURST as part of the network's "Noir Alley" series. CLOUDBURST was made by Hammer Films, and it has an important part in that company's history. The movie was the first production by Hammer to be mainly shot at the manor house called Down Place, which would soon be transformed into Bray Studios. CLOUDBURST was also the first in a series of crime films that Hammer made using American financing and a American star in the lead role. 

In CLOUDBURST the American star is Robert Preston, who plays Canadian John Graham. In 1946 Graham, an expert cryptographer who worked for British Intelligence during the war, is in charge of a code-breaking unit for the Foreign Office. John's wife Carol (Elizabeth Sellars) is expecting a child, and the couple are deeply in love and looking toward the future. Shockingly, Carol is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and the devastated John uses his special skills to eliminate those who have destroyed his life. 

For me Robert Preston will always be Harold Hill from THE MUSIC MAN, but he does very well here.  Many of the past-their-prime American stars who worked for Hammer looked tired or uncomfortable in the company's films, but Preston is very effective in showing that Graham is a capable intellectual. After Graham's wife is murdered, Preston doesn't go off the rails, seething with vengeance. The actor instead presents Graham as morose, but still cunning and determined enough to carry out his revenge scheme. The story takes its time in the beginning to develop the relationship between Graham and his wife, and this gives the viewer a connection to the man, and a emotional attachment to what he intends to do. 

After Graham starts his revenge plot, it doesn't take too long for Scotland Yard to become suspicious of him. This sets up a situation where the audience wonders not just "Will he do it", but also "Will he get away with it?". The script is still careful not to be blatantly rooting for Graham to stick it to his enemies--it takes pains to point out that Graham's life is essentially over already, and his actions won't make things better for him. 

CLOUDBURST is one of the better black & white Hammer crime films from the early 1950s, due mainly to the script, which was based on a play by Leo Marks, and co-written by Marks and director Francis Searle. Searle uses a few unusual touches to move the story along, including having the screen literally black out when an act of revenge is perpetrated. The stark look of postwar Britain is perfect for this type of story--due to the low budget we don't get to see a lot of English locations, but what we do see feels dark and brooding, befitting the subject matter. 

CLOUDBURST is a fine example of early Hammer noir. It does have to be said that it's not the most uplifting movie in the world.