I notice that one or two reviewers on this site have been quite kind to THE GILDED CAGE, a British crime potboiler set in the murky world of art forgery. I thought it was quite the bore, and certainly no masterpiece given the assured direction of John Gilling whose films were usually reasonably entertaining. As is the norm, this is a Tempean picture produced by the hard-working team of Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman.
The film features the flat footed Alex Nicol as the imported American star who randomly gets drawn into the hunt for a forged stolen painting when a beautiful woman (Ursula Howells) is murdered. As usual there are numerous criminals to contend with, as well as the unhelpful police force. THE GILDED CAGE emulates plenty of British B-movies of the period but lacks the right pacing and easy scripting of the entertaining ones. When the highlight is an early cameo from Michael Balfour you know you're in trouble. There are a couple of interesting faces in support, particularly Clifford Evans in a stock role and the great Elwyn Brook-Jones, but they're no reason to tune in.
The film features the flat footed Alex Nicol as the imported American star who randomly gets drawn into the hunt for a forged stolen painting when a beautiful woman (Ursula Howells) is murdered. As usual there are numerous criminals to contend with, as well as the unhelpful police force. THE GILDED CAGE emulates plenty of British B-movies of the period but lacks the right pacing and easy scripting of the entertaining ones. When the highlight is an early cameo from Michael Balfour you know you're in trouble. There are a couple of interesting faces in support, particularly Clifford Evans in a stock role and the great Elwyn Brook-Jones, but they're no reason to tune in.