It's not on the same level as the best early 1950s Hammer films that I have seen such as "The Last Page" or "Mantrap" - both of which were also directed by Terence Fisher - but it's a good little thriller which packs quite a bit into its 70 minutes runtime. It concerns a plastic surgeon, Philip Ritter, who alters the appearance of a disfigured habitual criminal, Lily Conover, to recreate a beautiful woman, Alice Brent, with whom he had a brief but intense romance. It can be seen as a precursor to "Vertigo" as well as Fisher's later (and lesser) Hammer films "Four Sided Triangle" and "Frankenstein Created Woman", which cover similar territory from a sci-fi / horror perspective.
The film has a great leading man in the effortlessly classy and charismatic Austrian actor Paul Henreid. Best known for his supporting roles in "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and "Casablanca", he was the most high profile male Hollywood star to ever grace a Hammer film and the most high profile overall after Bette Davis and Joan Fontaine. Lizabeth Scott, who only died in January, is not a great actress but she is perfectly fine as Alice. When playing Lily, her voice is dubbed by the original actress Mary Mackenzie so I can't really gauge Scott's performance but Mackenzie is a much better actress.
It also features nice supporting roles from André Morell, my favourite Hammer leading man after Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, in his first film for the studio and future "Dad's Army" star Arnold Ridley as well as a small appearance by Richard Wattis, who does not play a civil servant for once! This has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the film itself but I was a little disappointed that the John Wood in the film was not, contrary to what it said on both Wikipedia and IMDb, the Shakespearean actor who is best known for playing Stephen Falken in "WarGames".
Overall, this is by no means a Hammer classic but it's great fun.
The film has a great leading man in the effortlessly classy and charismatic Austrian actor Paul Henreid. Best known for his supporting roles in "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and "Casablanca", he was the most high profile male Hollywood star to ever grace a Hammer film and the most high profile overall after Bette Davis and Joan Fontaine. Lizabeth Scott, who only died in January, is not a great actress but she is perfectly fine as Alice. When playing Lily, her voice is dubbed by the original actress Mary Mackenzie so I can't really gauge Scott's performance but Mackenzie is a much better actress.
It also features nice supporting roles from André Morell, my favourite Hammer leading man after Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, in his first film for the studio and future "Dad's Army" star Arnold Ridley as well as a small appearance by Richard Wattis, who does not play a civil servant for once! This has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the film itself but I was a little disappointed that the John Wood in the film was not, contrary to what it said on both Wikipedia and IMDb, the Shakespearean actor who is best known for playing Stephen Falken in "WarGames".
Overall, this is by no means a Hammer classic but it's great fun.