Engineer Christopher Pelly (Maxwell Reed) is left blind as a result of a road accident. One night he sets off to a friend's party in London but his driver accidentally drops him off at the wrong house and he unwittingly interrupts a murder. The gang lead by Otto Ford (Eric Pohlmann) knock him out after interrogating him and dump him outside his friend's house. Following a successful operation to restore his sight, Pelly turns detective to unravel the mystery behind the murder. A lead soon presents itself in the form of Patricia Dale (Dinah Sheridan) whose brother, an RAF pilot, has been missing for over a year and presumed dead after his plane crashed. The pair join forces and the trail leads to a black market currency exchange racket. Pelly thinks that he is one step ahead of Otto and his thugs but they have a surprise in store for him and Patricia...
Content wise, Blackout is a totally run-of-the-mill affair and very typical of the endless stream of British b-pic crime thrillers that were coming out at the time. Reed is uncomfortably cast as the hero acting smooth complete with a put on American accent and coming out with a load of witless one liners. For instance, Dinah Sheridan says to him "Don't use up all of your nine lives" as he prepares to go out and tackle Eric Pohlmann and his cohorts at their country hideaway. "If you're lucky I'll save one for you" Reed replies. The love interest between Reed and Dinah Sheridan has also been worked out in the blandest way and it is not sufficient to stir the emotions. But the film is saved from total mediocrity by the excellent black and white Cinematography of Monty Berman, which is atmospherically sinister in its use of shadow and dark tones. It gives the proceedings a good sense of place and sinister atmosphere in this glimpse into London's underworld.
Some of the credits in the film are also of interest such as John Gilling who wrote the screenplay. He worked on countless quota-quickies such as this throughout the fifties often directing them as well. Several of them were made for Monty Berman and Robert S. Baker's "Tempean" company as this was. An excellent example of their collaboration at its best is The Voice Of Merill (1952), a thriller which was produced as a second-feature but was upgraded to "A" feature status on its release on its considerable merits. When the second feature market dried up in the early sixties, Baker and Berman turned to the small screen and were responsible for some of the best loved cult TV series of the sixties such as Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, Gideon's Way and The Champions. Meanwhile, Gilling would find a niche for himself in the British horror wave at Hammer where he directed two of that studio's most fondly remembered shockers, The Plague Of The Zombies and The Reptile. Trivia buffs will also know that Eric Pohlmann was the actor who voiced the unseen Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond movies From Russia With Love and Thunderball.
Overall, Blackout scores no points for originality in the plot department but it is kept afloat by the sinister and atmospheric camera-work of Monty Berman which gives it more weight than it deserves. It is dated but not to the point where it is unwatchable and can be enjoyed as a pleasant reminder of a corner of the British film industry which is now largely forgotten in the age of multiplexes and spectacular CGI special effects.
Content wise, Blackout is a totally run-of-the-mill affair and very typical of the endless stream of British b-pic crime thrillers that were coming out at the time. Reed is uncomfortably cast as the hero acting smooth complete with a put on American accent and coming out with a load of witless one liners. For instance, Dinah Sheridan says to him "Don't use up all of your nine lives" as he prepares to go out and tackle Eric Pohlmann and his cohorts at their country hideaway. "If you're lucky I'll save one for you" Reed replies. The love interest between Reed and Dinah Sheridan has also been worked out in the blandest way and it is not sufficient to stir the emotions. But the film is saved from total mediocrity by the excellent black and white Cinematography of Monty Berman, which is atmospherically sinister in its use of shadow and dark tones. It gives the proceedings a good sense of place and sinister atmosphere in this glimpse into London's underworld.
Some of the credits in the film are also of interest such as John Gilling who wrote the screenplay. He worked on countless quota-quickies such as this throughout the fifties often directing them as well. Several of them were made for Monty Berman and Robert S. Baker's "Tempean" company as this was. An excellent example of their collaboration at its best is The Voice Of Merill (1952), a thriller which was produced as a second-feature but was upgraded to "A" feature status on its release on its considerable merits. When the second feature market dried up in the early sixties, Baker and Berman turned to the small screen and were responsible for some of the best loved cult TV series of the sixties such as Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, Gideon's Way and The Champions. Meanwhile, Gilling would find a niche for himself in the British horror wave at Hammer where he directed two of that studio's most fondly remembered shockers, The Plague Of The Zombies and The Reptile. Trivia buffs will also know that Eric Pohlmann was the actor who voiced the unseen Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond movies From Russia With Love and Thunderball.
Overall, Blackout scores no points for originality in the plot department but it is kept afloat by the sinister and atmospheric camera-work of Monty Berman which gives it more weight than it deserves. It is dated but not to the point where it is unwatchable and can be enjoyed as a pleasant reminder of a corner of the British film industry which is now largely forgotten in the age of multiplexes and spectacular CGI special effects.