My next film to watch, from the Hammer archives and for the "House of Hammer" podcast was 1950's "Someone at the Door". An adaptation of a stage production, which had previously been produced for the screen by Herbert Brenon in 1936. Though there are some elements to this farce that I did enjoy, generally I found my attention repeatedly wandering.
Ronnie Martin (Michael Medwin) and his sister Sally (Yvonne Owen) have come into possession of a large, but rather rundown house. Ronnie is a journalist and, noting that murder is all that makes the front page these days, comes up with a ruse. He'll "kill" his sister, get arrested, be exonerated when she shows up at his trial and then turn it into a story. The trouble though is that the police are already interested in the house, as a previous employee of the estate, has genuinely disappeared.
Certainly, in the early moments, you can really see how this would have worked on the stage. Ronnie is a broad comedic character, and his cowardice and timing would have generated a few laughs. It can't maintain that pace though, and eventually, I felt became rather tiresome with characters charging endlessly around the secret hatch that is key to the films plot.
There were some touches that I enjoyed, such as a stagey introduction to each actor. Hugh Latimer, from "PC 49" returns and has a nice role as Sally's boyfriend, who is in on the scheme - though his character generally exists to help move things around the room and, as I say, the opening couple of scenes - when Robbie and Sally believe that their house might be haunted and when they blunder around cleaning promised a more amusing film than the hurried scramble the rest of the film proves to be provides.
If I had to compare farce comedies that Hammer has provided so far, I have to say that I prefer "This Sporting Life" but I don't have any particular desire to see either of them again, any time soon.
Ronnie Martin (Michael Medwin) and his sister Sally (Yvonne Owen) have come into possession of a large, but rather rundown house. Ronnie is a journalist and, noting that murder is all that makes the front page these days, comes up with a ruse. He'll "kill" his sister, get arrested, be exonerated when she shows up at his trial and then turn it into a story. The trouble though is that the police are already interested in the house, as a previous employee of the estate, has genuinely disappeared.
Certainly, in the early moments, you can really see how this would have worked on the stage. Ronnie is a broad comedic character, and his cowardice and timing would have generated a few laughs. It can't maintain that pace though, and eventually, I felt became rather tiresome with characters charging endlessly around the secret hatch that is key to the films plot.
There were some touches that I enjoyed, such as a stagey introduction to each actor. Hugh Latimer, from "PC 49" returns and has a nice role as Sally's boyfriend, who is in on the scheme - though his character generally exists to help move things around the room and, as I say, the opening couple of scenes - when Robbie and Sally believe that their house might be haunted and when they blunder around cleaning promised a more amusing film than the hurried scramble the rest of the film proves to be provides.
If I had to compare farce comedies that Hammer has provided so far, I have to say that I prefer "This Sporting Life" but I don't have any particular desire to see either of them again, any time soon.
