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Simply Perfect

Sadly Over-hyped

Fantastic!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Edward Dmytryk directed this British film Obsession during his exile years in the United Kingdom and was fortunate to have Robert Newton in the lead. As the cheated upon husband Newton who could chew up the scenery when let loose gets a firm directorial hand. His performance here is really brilliant because it is so carefully controlled.Newton is married to Sally Gray who isn't all that subtle with her affairs. But this one with American Phil Brown is just one too many. He takes Brown prisoner and locks him in a dungeon in one of the bombed out buildings of London at the time. There he keeps Brown on a chain like a dog, but when Gray's pet terrier Monty follows Newton to the dungeon and has to be kept there, it's the missing dog that proves to be the mistake Newton didn't count on.I have to say that Newton did have a meticulously conceived plan for the murder and that he did have a reason other than sadism for keeping him alive for weeks until he was ready to do the deed.Like Dmytryk, Brown was also a victim of the blacklist and glad to be working over there. His American speech pattern and idiom also contributes to Newton's downfall.Kudos also go to Naunton Wayne as the Scotland Yard police inspector who pursues this investigation with Columbo like intensity. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the Columbo character was inspired by Obsession and Naunton Wayne.This is one top drawer British noir feature.

Dr. Clive Riordan (Robert Newton) has put up with the very long list of his wife Storm's (Sally Gray) various affairs. He determines that he will kill the next man who Storm sets her sights on. So when she and an American named Bill Kronin (Phil Brown) meet at a cocktail party and strike up a quick relationship, Dr. Clive sets his plan into action. Robert Newton absolutely shines in his portrayal of a man who has just been given 'the last straw'. The complete opposite of the rolling-eyed, mumbling pirate for which he is best remembered for, he desplays perfect eloquence and diction, along with a stage presence that cannot be ignored. Always calm, polite, and ever one step ahead of all those around him. Robert Newton is an absolute joy to watch, and you can't help rooting for him to have a happy ending.Sally Gray delivers a very sincere and believable performance as someone who is used to getting her own way, always trying to prove she is just as smart as her husband. I found her to be very well casted, as she was able to hold her own alongside Robert Newton.Phil Brown also deserves praise for his work. Definitely a tough role to pull off, he manages to joke and remain calm in the face of death. Some other reviewers say he was 'too stiff upper-lipped' about it, but such was the way in which gentlemen of that era conducted themselves. Very well acted. Naunton Wayne, as Superintendent Finsbury of Scotland Yard, is absolutely delightful. True British wit and cunning at its best. Quite a few whicked one-liners, dry calmness, and a smarter-than-you-think-he-is personality along with great chemistry between him and Robert Newton in the few scenes they share, cements him as a force to be reckoned with. A perfect portrayal of the infamous Scotland Yard Superintendent character.All in all, this masterpiece kept me in suspense the entire time. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, and the superbly-written script and strong performances made me want to watch it over again immediately afterwards so as to enjoy getting pulled in again. One of Robert Newton's best works, extremely under-rated by a generation that does not appreciate a movie unless it has explosions, and a true joy to watch, this movie will remain a favorite of mine for the rest of my life.

Successful psychiatrist Robert Newton (Clive) is fed up of his wife Sally Gray (Storm) and her philandering ways. He's got business to attend to and it involves her latest lover Phil Brown (Bill). Newton calmly says to Brown - "Have you ever heard of the straw that broke the camel's back? Well,......it's you" - before putting his pre-meditated plan into action. Superintendent Naunton Wayne (Finsbury) turns up about halfway through the film to try and figure things out.The film is a battle of wits between everyone involved and it makes for entertaining viewing. The film grips you from the start and doesn't let go. Robert Newton starts off as completely likable and delivers some great dialogue in his calm and controlled manner. I totally sympathized with him but I'm not sure I was meant to. He is that appealing. I did gradually swing round to Phil Brown's side, though, after all, Newton is crackers! Great scenes, great locations, great acting and a clever dog. There are unexpected plot twists but the ending is slightly ambiguous. I went for the interpretation that sees Sally Gray stay in character, ie, a tart.

The British never really "got" noir; the few successes they showed (Night and the City, The Third Man) had American directors or casts to light, or darken, the way for them. Among those directors was Edward Dmytryk, who had started big in the noir cycle with Murder My Sweet, Cornered, and Crossfire but who fled to England in the fallout from the Hollywood witch-hunt -- in which he named names, including Jules Dassin, who directed Night and the City. (Luckily, Dmytryk later returned to Hollywood to helm The Sniper.) Obsession tells the story of a jealous psychiatrist (Robert Newton) with a faithless wife (Sally Gray); he's one of those hyperarticulate verbal sadists whom you want to cosh with a bumbershoot or choke with cucumber tea-sandwiches. He decides to wreak a hellish revenge on the latest of his wife's paramours (the basically harmless Phil Brown; the philandering wife is Sally Gray). He locks the poor Yank in a cellar somewhere in bombed-out London until he fills a bathtub with enough acid to destroy all traces of the corpse (transported daily to the dungeon, along with food and martinis, in hot-water bottles!). Somehow the wife's inquisitive mutt gets mixed up in his plans.... Obsession is very restrained and British in hinting at things that the Americans would shove in our faces, but pulling back in just the nick of time. Dmytryk plays with the conventions expertly, keeping the suspense taut without shocking the bejezus out of us. It's a good thriller that returns to an ordered cosmos with all the laws of fair play observed -- not the anarchic, primal universe of true film noir.