As I had rather suspected, my second viewing of the film Chase a Crooked Shadow, some 50 years after I saw it as an impressionable schoolboy, was something of a disappointment. Very little of the suspense that once had me transfixed has survived down the years. Or would it be more truthful to write that my palate has become more jaded with the passage of time? But I could still admire the fine acting of Richard Todd, Anne Baxter and Herbert Lom, and the clever way the black and white camera caught the harsh light of the Costa Brava. From a purely nostalgic point of view, I also liked the feeling of emptiness and space conveyed by the film. It is this sense of a less crowded world that is one of the abiding memories of my childhood.
A classic film, book, etc. is one that retains at least some of its power to affect us even after many years. In this case, the comparison with Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is most telling. The two films bear more than a passing resemblance, the difference being that Hitchcock was a genius whereas Michael Anderson (the director of Chase a Crooked Shadow) was simply an honest craftsman.
A classic film, book, etc. is one that retains at least some of its power to affect us even after many years. In this case, the comparison with Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is most telling. The two films bear more than a passing resemblance, the difference being that Hitchcock was a genius whereas Michael Anderson (the director of Chase a Crooked Shadow) was simply an honest craftsman.
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