Dilemma (1962)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Coming to this film only eleven years (!) after Chris Gaskins' review, his comment "The piano tuner being blind is a little far fetched though" stirred a memory,so I looked online and saw that there is indeed an Association of Blind Piano Tuners. It may be an edition of QI that I am remembering, and I believe that Stephen Fry said that there is no authoritative figure of the number of UK piano tuners. My education is not solely derived from TV, I hasten to add.

I really liked this unusually-plotted British thriller, which is full to the brim of suspense and black comedy which really makes it work. It's one of those 'hide the corpse' type tales (the South Korean effort A HARD DAY was similar but far more elaborate) with a distinctly British slant to it. Peter Halliday plays an ordinary husband who makes a living as a music teacher. He returns to his home in the suburbs one day to find his wife missing and a bloodied corpse in the bathroom. What better way to resolve the situation than to bury the corpse under his living room floor? That's the plot in a nutshell, but the surprisingly humorous execution is what makes this really work. Halliday is a delight as the increasingly stressed out protagonist, and I was delighted by the typically English way he keeps getting interrupted in his work by all sorts of people, particularly Patricia Burke's nosy neighbour. The eventual solving of the mystery is a little ahead of its time (I don't remember cocaine being utilised in British films too much during this time) but it's the execution that makes this little film shine.

This film isn't really a thriller, but it is successful in being a suspense filled drama. This film is actually quite a gem. The plot and entire pretext for the film are simple but takes a twist at the end which I don't think anybody could predict. The final explanation for the dead body in the end is not complex, but it is extremely clever and not cliched like 99.9% of big Hollywood blockbusters. It was actually a very refreshing modern ending, which I was not expecting considering the film was made in the early 1960s, this helps push the film above simply being a low-budget British affair.The whole thing is shot in a believable and completely intruiging way, yes this film is simple, but that is what makes it so brilliant. It works because it is believable -he is an ordinary man, who lives in an ordinary house, not some mansion in Beverly Hills. The film is fuelled by suspense over what the schoolmaster is going to do with the body, all the more so because his nosey neighbour cannot stop interferring.I found this film very similar to "The Nanny" starring Bette Davis, they are very similar in that they simply tell a story, without enormous complications and huge Hollywood overcomplicating budgets getting in the way. Some people will probably not enjoy it for it's simplicity, because they are so used to big budget blockbusters, but if your willing to give this film a try you will find it is actually extremely enjoyable. If it was available on VHS I would probably buy it. 10 out of 10.

Cheapo British B-picture which does not live up to its description. The initial premise is interesting enough, but any "thrills" are dissipated by the slack plotting. The "surprise" ending is signalled well before the end.