Robert Matthews (Emrys Jones) is a painter living in Cornwall. While at a pub he is confronted and arrested by police. It turns out that Matthews is the spitting image of a recently escaped criminal, John Barlow (Emrys Jones). Police inspector Clements (John Horsley) gets to the bottom of things and apologizes to Matthews for the mix-up.
John Barlow sees the arrest of Matthews in the paper and notes the similarity in their appearance. That night Barlow makes his way to Matthews' home. Barlow believes that he can tie up Matthews and steal his identity thereby making his escape. A fight ensues and Matthews is accidentally killed by Barlow. Barlow hides Matthews’ body in the woodshed and assumes his place.
Offshore a ship explodes. The authorities believe it hit an underwater mine. Three of the survivors of the wreck are taken to Matthews’ cottage to warm up and rest for the night, Colonel and Mrs. Smythe (Roger Maxwell and Lesley Deane) and a young woman, Ann Farrington (Zena Marshall). It turns out that Ann knows Barlow. Barlow tells her that he is Matthews. At first, she believes him but the longer she is there, the more she believes that Matthews is really Barlow.
Inspector Clements begins to suspect that Matthews is hiding something. At first, he suspects that Matthews is really Barlow, but the more he inquiries about Matthews, the more he believes that there is more going on than just an escaped prisoner. The quiet little seaside cottage that Barlow thought would be his haven until he could escape becomes more of a prison when he finds out that Matthews was involved in some shady dealings and a threat to national security.
“Deadly Nightshade” was released in 1953 and was directed by John Gilling. It is a British crime drama and a spy thriller with noir influences as well as being a quota quickie.
The title of the film is actually a code word used by the spies to recognize each other.
This was an interesting little gem. The acting is decent all around. There is a lot of thriller style atmosphere here right down to the ocean waves crashing on the rocks at Cornwall. There isn’t a lot of action, but the noir touches add some mystery and ambiance to the story.
The spy thriller portion of the film is not as prominent as the love story between Barlow and Joan. I realize that they want to keep the mystery going until the big reveal in the final act but if you’re not paying attention, you could miss some of the espionage section of the story along the way and get a little confused. Well let’s just say I was a little confused.