Rent Blind Date (1959)

Very clever - Blind Date review by sb

FILM & REVIEW Fascinating early Losey film has penniless Dutch painter Jan (Kruger) call at the expensive mews house of his lover Jacqueline (Presle).The door is open but there is no sign of her so he waits - until the Police arrive led by rugged Welsh copper Morgan (Baker). At first they won’t say why they are there and Jan refuses to answer any questions so suspicions are aroused. They then reveal under a duvet and a pile of clothes is the murdered body of Jacqueline. Jan is horrified and begins to recount in flashback how they met but Baker remains unconvinced why a rich older lady would take up with an unknown painter - making him the prime suspect. A game of cat and mouse ensues as evidence is uncovered that Jacqueline may not be who she claimed to Jan to be - nor why she tried to pay him off. Then things take a very unexpected turn…… It very well written and acted and one of Bakers favourite films - he would make 4 films in total with Losey so the rapport was there from the start……it’s very clever indeed - 4/5

Crime Drama. - Blind Date review by Steve

Cerebral thriller which sustains a high level of suspense despite a dense concentration of dialogue. Though adapted from a novel, it feels like a film version of a play, mainly set in a couple of locations and opened up with extensive flashbacks shot around a black and white London.

It's a cute murder story. The puzzle is really a vehicle for an examination of privilege, but the noirish plot still delivers a few twists. Hardy Krüger is a poor Dutch painter set up by a chic femme fatale (Micheline Presle) to take the rap for the murder of her husband's lover, which is investigated by a persistent Welsh cop (Stanley Baker).

She is a rich woman whose tragic flaw is that she grows to love her dupe. Which is not what people of her status are bred to do. Class is a recurrent motif of the blacklisted director, Joseph Losey. Also characteristic are the deep performances, with French star Plesle fascinating as the brittle, entitled seducer.

There's a playful opening with cool bebop on the soundtrack, like the thrillers of the French New Wave. But that turns out to be a record on the dead woman's turntable, and we get a more straightforward score. There is a quality script, and interesting themes, but reaction to this film may depend on tolerance of so much talk.