Hammer is best known for their horror pictures, but this studio also made a sizable number of thrillers as well. This particular thriller is perhaps one of Hammer's most powerful and unsettling entries in the genre because it's about something that can actually happen -- and sadly does happen all the time even to this very day. The Carter family arrive in a prosperous small Canadian town. When sweet and innocent daughter Jean (a fine and touching performance by Janina Faye) accuses the elderly Clarence Olderberry Sr. of making her and her friend Lucille dance naked in front of him for some candy, her parents decide to take Olderberry to court despite the fact that he's the patriarch of an extremely rich and influential local family. Director Cyril Frankel, working from a gripping and intelligent script by John Hunter, handles the delicate subject of pedophilia in a commendably tasteful, nonexploitative, and straightforward manner; while the subject matter is undeniably unpleasant, it's nonetheless made tolerable by Frankel's wise decision to avoid explicitness in favor of suggestion instead. This film further benefits from uniformly outstanding acting from a top-rate cast, with especially stand-out work from Gwen Watford as the concerned Sally Carter, Peter Allen as the resolute Peter Carter, Bill Nagy as Olderberry's protective and formidable son Richard, Nial McGinnis as the shifty and aggressive defense counsel, Michael Gwynn as the shrewd and compassionate prosecutor, and MacDonald Parke as a wise no-nonsense judge. Felix Aylmer contributes a memorably creepy portrayal as the odious Clarence Olderberry; he manages to project a genuine sense of menace without ever uttering a single word. Moreover, we've also got a strong and provocative central message about the corruption of both justice and innocence and the abuse of power. But what really makes this film so potent and effective is the fact that it's firmly grounded in a thoroughly plausible everyday world populated by equally believable characters (Clarence in particular is an all-too-real human monster). The uncompromising grim ending packs a devastating punch. Both Freddie Francis' crisp black and white cinematography and Elisabeth Lutyens' moody score are up to par. An excellent, albeit quite harrowing and disturbing film.
Review of Never Take Candy from A Stranger
