I sometimes wonder if sidelighting from the left is supposed to indicate something different from sidelighting from the right in the movies. The bookends of this movie are shot as condemned prisoner Donald Houston spends his last few hours with priest Liam Gaffney, with the sidelighting shifted from prologue to epilogue. Here, it indicates it's dusk when the prologue begins, and dawn or the epilogue.
The story is about how Houston and wife Kathleen Byron are about to lose their trawler, but Bill Kerr suggests a spot of smuggling. After Miss Byron talks the unwilling Houston into it -- and has last minute second thoughts -- things go wrong.
It's an exercise in watching the two male characters under pressure, seeing which one of them will crack. Neither of them is very admirable. It's one of those second features where there doesn't seem to be anyone to root for, except possibly the parrot onboard. Still, at 65 minutes, all the technical details are handled well, the performances are good, and it passes the time quickly.
The story is about how Houston and wife Kathleen Byron are about to lose their trawler, but Bill Kerr suggests a spot of smuggling. After Miss Byron talks the unwilling Houston into it -- and has last minute second thoughts -- things go wrong.
It's an exercise in watching the two male characters under pressure, seeing which one of them will crack. Neither of them is very admirable. It's one of those second features where there doesn't seem to be anyone to root for, except possibly the parrot onboard. Still, at 65 minutes, all the technical details are handled well, the performances are good, and it passes the time quickly.