John Brent (Stewart Granger) is in a position of trust at his shipping insurance company, one of only two people with the keys and combination to the safe. When his wife (Haya Harareet) leaves him and then causes a public scene at a business affair in their home, we learn that the source of his problems is a blackmailing dentist (Norman Bird), a grotesque little figure of the type that usually pops up in British thrillers. In another film, he might have been played by Richard Attenborough; in a comedy, Peter Sellers.
In a further twist, the blackmailer is himself manipulated by a mystery man — the secret partner of the title — into arranging a robbery at Brent’s company for which Brent will be framed. Once the dogged police detective (Bernard Lee, most famous as M in the James Bond films) is on the case, trying to wrap it up before his retirement and prodded by his more impatient colleague (Lee Montague), Brent must go on the run and track down the clues himself to clear his name.
It’s a good thing he keeps a jar of some kind of smoke powder in his house. Don’t we all? If not, maybe we should stock up against the day.
This sleek, twisty, deliberately manipulative British mystery echoes its story in the elegantly sinuous black-and-white photography by Harry Waxman, while every new bit of information or fraught development is underlined with jazzy blasts of Philip Green’s score. One of several thrillers put together by director Basil Dearden and producer Michael Relph, it’s all very modern and upscale and chic, with tasteful bits of artwork scattered about the sets and much glamorous styling on Harareet, who spends most of her scenes flaring her nostrils and glaring balefully. Possibly she realizes it’s a thankless role.
Hugh Burden, Melissa Stribling, Conrad Phillips, and John Lee play an assortment of suspects or red herrings. The script is David Pursall and Jack Seddon, who were about to work on Margaret Rutherford’s Miss Marple films. If the film has a problem, aside from the general implausibility that goes with the genre territory, it’s that what surprised audiences in 1961 is more liable to be predictable today. The story remains ingenious, but it’s a brand of ingenuity that’s been run into the ground in recent years.
Still, even those who twig to what’s happening can enjoy the pleasure of watching the story reveal itself in a stylish manner from all involved, and it’s a brisk 90 minutes. This is a standard on-demand disc from Warner Archive.