Flora Robson gave everything she had, especially in the last ten minutes, for what was essentially a British "quota quickie". But even though it was a B production it had everything going for it from a novel by Richard Llewellyn (soon to hit pay dirt with his "How Green Was My Valley"), sustained tension and pace and a magnificent cast including the incomparable Robert Newton.
A little English village's peace is shattered when a series of anonymous letters start being delivered to various homes concerning terrible allegations about the recipients and their nearest and dearest. Respectable townspeople find themselves having to defend their lives when they are accused of sexual and criminal misconduct. The Reverend Rider (Reginald Tate) and his sister Mary (Robson) are at their wit's end as they attempt to pour cold water on the mounting hysteria by urging villagers to ignore what is just a malicious desire to stir up trouble but even Rider's daughter Ann (Ann Todd) becomes a target with lewd suggestions linking her to a man, not her fiancée.
The structured social life of the town falls apart, the letters bear a local postmark so no-one is above suspicion but the main brunt of ill feeling falls on "the Foreigner", Connie (Catherine Lacey), a shy Welsh girl, who seems completely bewildered. Considering the letter writer seems to have an insightful knowledge into everyone's personal circumstances, villagers begin to wonder if the letters bear some truth. Someone taking it completely to heart is Sam Hurrin (Newton) who is driven out of his mind by allegations that his young wife Sukel (Belle Chrystall) is carrying on with a very likable storekeeper who is completely innocent but that doesn't stop Sam rushing from the house with murder on his mind.
Things come to a head when Connie is found hanged in the church tower and Rider delivers a searing speech from the pulpit. That doesn't stop the letters, for by now the writer, according to the Scotland Yard man called in, is in a manic state obsessed with the village having to pay for their life as an unpaid drudge.
Just a great example of how with everything going right, British movie making could produce a pearl on a shoestring budget.
A little English village's peace is shattered when a series of anonymous letters start being delivered to various homes concerning terrible allegations about the recipients and their nearest and dearest. Respectable townspeople find themselves having to defend their lives when they are accused of sexual and criminal misconduct. The Reverend Rider (Reginald Tate) and his sister Mary (Robson) are at their wit's end as they attempt to pour cold water on the mounting hysteria by urging villagers to ignore what is just a malicious desire to stir up trouble but even Rider's daughter Ann (Ann Todd) becomes a target with lewd suggestions linking her to a man, not her fiancée.
The structured social life of the town falls apart, the letters bear a local postmark so no-one is above suspicion but the main brunt of ill feeling falls on "the Foreigner", Connie (Catherine Lacey), a shy Welsh girl, who seems completely bewildered. Considering the letter writer seems to have an insightful knowledge into everyone's personal circumstances, villagers begin to wonder if the letters bear some truth. Someone taking it completely to heart is Sam Hurrin (Newton) who is driven out of his mind by allegations that his young wife Sukel (Belle Chrystall) is carrying on with a very likable storekeeper who is completely innocent but that doesn't stop Sam rushing from the house with murder on his mind.
Things come to a head when Connie is found hanged in the church tower and Rider delivers a searing speech from the pulpit. That doesn't stop the letters, for by now the writer, according to the Scotland Yard man called in, is in a manic state obsessed with the village having to pay for their life as an unpaid drudge.
Just a great example of how with everything going right, British movie making could produce a pearl on a shoestring budget.