Lady in Distress (1940)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- While on his way to work one morning, a man looks out the window of the train and sees a young woman being murdered. When he investigates the crime, he discovers a foul-tempered illusionist, Zoltini (Paul Lukas), who has a turbulent relationship with his young wife Vivienne (Sally Gray).
- Actors:
- Michael Redgrave, Sally Gray, Paul Lukas, Hartley Power, Patricia Roc, Gertrude Musgrove, George Carney, Bryan Coleman, Alf Goddard, Glen Alyn, Wilfred Walter, George Merritt, John Salew, Kimberley & Page, Pamela Randall, Howard Douglas, Cameron Hall, Allan Jeayes, David Keir, Eliot Makeham
- Directors:
- Herbert Mason
- Producers:
- Josef Somlo
- Writers:
- R. Herbert, Max Maret, Ian Dalrymple, Brigid Cooper
- Aka:
- A Window in London
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of Lady in Distress
British Melodrama - Lady in Distress review by Steve
Ominous and fatalistic pre-noir which captures a vision of London just before the blitz. Michael Redgrave plays a construction worker who thinks he sees the murder of a young woman in a boarding house. It turns out to be a fake, but he becomes involved in the internecine intrigues of the girl (Sally Gray) and her would-be killer/magician husband (Paul Lukas).
This is a fusion of melodrama and Soviet style realism. The sensational story is a remake of a French film, but shot on location around London. And both aspects work well. The unrealistic narrative is unusual and absorbing, and the realist montages bring a vivid impression of the developing city; primarily the building of Waterloo Bridge.
Redgrave probably isn't everyone's idea of a crane driver. Or even a romantic lead. But he's an engaging presence. Patricia Roc is as adorable as ever as his working girl wife. But the real star is the beautiful and sulkily sexy Sally Gray as a low rent femme fatale. With Hollywood about to enter the era of film noir, it's a mystery why she wasn't snapped up.
The weakness is Paul Lukas as her charmless and jealous husband. Why did she marry him? He's not even rich. Apart from the outside locations, there are fascinating interiors, of clubland and the music hall. The featured comedy act is hilarious! The drama is overstated, but the portrayal of working class Londoners is sympathetic, and not patronising.