They Met in the Dark

James Mason is the disgraced RN Commander ("Heritage") dragooned from the service after being tricked into sharing secrets with the Nazis. Bent on revenge, he determines to track them down. His journey starts at an old cottage where he mets Joyce Howard ("Laura") who has come to visit her uncle, but ... discovers a body instead - a body that has disappeared by the time the police arrive to investigate. Initially hostile and wary of each other, the pair must work together to get to the bottom of this most sophisticated of criminal enterprises that appears to revolve around the operations of the "Child's" talent agency run by Tom Walls, which is adept at getting it's acts on the BBC. Mason has a certain mischief about his role here, a charisma that is much needed as I found Howard's character quite annoying - indeed the attempts at comedy, generally here, don't really work at all. Phyllis Stanley is competent as the starring chanteuse "Lily" with her masterful example of the lyric writers art - "Toddle Along" which, to her credit, she sings without the merest hint of a grin on her face, and there are a few scenes towards the end with Edward Rigby as Mason's sidekick "Mansel" and David Farrar adds a bit of weight to the thing, too. It's an enjoyable watch, with the star in an ascendency that clearly shows why he would soon be Hollywood bound. read more