DO YOU KNOW THIS VOICE?(director: Frank Nesbitt; screenwriter: Neil McCallum; cinematographer: Arthur Lavis; cast: Jean Aubrey (Trudy), Dan Duryea (Mr. Hopta), Peter Madden (Superintendent Hume), Isa Miranda (Mrs. Marotta), Barry Warren (Detective Sergeant Connor), Gwen Watford (Mrs. Hopta), 1964-UK)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
In an outdoor phone booth in the industrial city of Bristol, England, someone dressed in a trenchcoat is asking for ransom money for a young boy kidnapped from an elite school. On the receiving end of that call are the child's parents, telling the kidnappers that they are not wealthy; that there has been a mistake, you have kidnapped someone who doesn't have the kind of money most who attend that school have. The police are in the boy's house, with Superintendent Hume (Peter Madden) in charge, monitoring the call, hoping to keep the kidnapper on the phone for an extended period of time so that they can trace the call. So begins a film that is more interested in studying the nature of someone who could commit such a crime and have it escalate to a murder than in keeping the film suspenseful by having the audience guess who did it.
Mr. Hopta (Dan Duryea) is the American who lives next door to a cat fancier, Mrs. Marotta (Isa Miranda) and is cheerfully listening to her complain about one of her neighbors who did not appreciate it that her cats got loose and went onto his property. She is friendly with the gregarious and handy Mr. Hopta, who has fixed many of her broken appliances for free, something she really appreciates since she can't afford to buy new ones or pay to get the broken ones fixed. He chastises her for not calling her niece Trudy (Jean) over a little argument they had, and when she tells him that she can't because she doesn't have the money, he generously gives her the coins to make the call.
Meanwhile, the police have just discovered the child's body in the woods and are looking for any lead they can get on this murder case. The boy's parents are distraught with the news, and the father feels he can't stay on the line with the caller if he should call again and keep him talking as the police request, because he is too weak from the ordeal. The police insist that this is their best shot at getting the killer. So when the kidnapper calls again demanding money, he manages to keep the caller on the line until they trace the call, but he can't help it any more and blurts out in anger, "Why did you kill my boy?"
At the phone booth, the Italian lady drops the change Hopta gave her and is on the ground picking up the coins when the caller of the phone that the police traced comes rushing out of the phone booth. She notices only their brown shoes and pants, but fails to look up and see that it is Mrs. Hopta (Gwen). While inside the booth, in the middle of her conversation with Trudy, the police frighten her by pulling her away from the phone and taking her down to the police station, where she is cleared of the crime, but is being questioned by Superintendent Hume as a possible witness.
Mrs. Marotta volunteers to act as bait to catch the murderer, feeling sorry that a little boy was killed and she failed to be of help in identifying the killer. She tells the police that her life isn't that valuable, that she would like to do something to help, even if what she is doing is dangerous. But the police nix that offer, saying it is unfair to put her in such danger.
Determined to get the killer, on her way out of the police station, this very proud woman who even refuses the police offer of a ride home, tells the newsmen waiting there that she saw what the killer looked like. The police have no choice now but to protect her and wait for the killer to strike. As an added precaution to their street security, they place a man inside her house to watch her, Detective Sergeant Connor (Barry Warren).
Hopta and his wife, when they see the headline in the newspaper, begin to talk this over as she turns on him and asks, "Why did you have to kill the kid?" "Why did I have to meet you, you are ruining my life?" He tells her it was an accident, "I just tied the ropes on him too tight."
Not satisfied that he's home free from the crime, Hopta tells his wife that it is strange that Mrs. M didn't recognize you, it could only mean that she didn't see you and that this is a police trap, as he decides to go over there and check up on what is going on.
Convinced that Mrs. M saw something and might later on recall it and link him to the crime, Hopta tells his anguished wife, I better kill her and make sure. This is the pivotal scene of this b/w noir film, as Hopta goes completely over the edge and cannot be looked upon any more as just a pathetic loser who keeps making mistakes. He is now a dangerous murderer, willing to kill again, even if it is his neighbor that he admittedly likes and not some anonymous person, like the boy he accidently killed.
What keeps the film chilling, is Dan Duryea as the friendly next-door neighbor, who is so psychologically warped, yet doesn't overtly show it. He brings his wife along on the nightmare he is having, even though he dearly loves her. To watch him ingratiate himself with the kindly older neighbor and all the time he is planning to poison her and when that doesn't work to strangle her, makes for a frightening character portrayal, of someone you think you know but you don't. Duryea is so good at acting out a part like this, with just the right balance of charm, controlled madness and hubris, until at the end of the film he completely snaps, singing old military songs as the police arrest him and his wife is accidently poisoned to death, and is seen lying on the kitchen floor.
REVIEWED: 11/1/99 GRADE: C+
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
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