The Glass Tomb (1955)
Directed by Montgomery Tully

Film Review

The Glass Tomb (inexplicably released in the United States as The Glass Cage) comes towards the tail-end of a series of cheap, noir-like crime dramas made by the British film company Hammer in the early-to-mid 1950s, just before the company's fortunes suddenly improved with its lucrative diversions into science-fiction and horror.  With its prestigious cast and interesting setting (fairgrounds are a perfect location for film noir, as Hitchcock had already shown in Strangers on a Train) this could have been one of Hammer's better crime offerings, but a lacklustre script and some uninspired direction prevent it from achieving its full potential.

John Ireland, the token American imposed on the production by its American distributors, gives a reasonably convincing portrayal of a carnival impresario, ably supported by an ensemble of British acting talent that includes Honor Blackman and Sid James.  Saddled with an unconvincing American accent, Blackman lacks her usual charm but she provides a welcome female presence in a predominantly male-oriented drama.  Some years before he became one of the UK's comedy legends, Sid James was shaping up to be a very respectable character actor, particularly well-suited to playing amiable heavies, such as the one he plays so brilliantly in this film.  The only blot on the acting front is a child actor who is hideously dubbed by a woman with a high-pitched voice, to sound like something out of a Disney cartoon.

Director Montgomery Tully clearly draws his inspiration from American films noirs of the previous decade, employing high contrast lighting very effectively in some scenes to create a sense of lurking menace.  One highpoint is a tense sequence on the London underground, where an attempt by the villain of the piece to threaten a potential victim is drowned out by the infernal rumbling of the subterranean train.  Elsewhere, Tully's imagination and commitment seem to falter, with the result that some scenes are unbearably dull and lifeless.  Even though the film runs to a modest 59 minutes it feels slightly overlong and ponderous.  If only a little more care and attention had been given to it The Glass Tomb could have been one of Hammer's most striking forays into film noir, instead of a merely average entry in a pretty uneven series.

Film Synopsis

Pel Pelham is an American impresario who dreams up the carnival attraction of the century.  Henri Sapolio, a.k.a. the Starving Man, will go without food for seventy days, imprisoned in a glass tomb which will allow paying onlookers to witness every day of his ordeal.  With money borrowed from his bookmaker friend Tony Lewis, Pel raises the capital to get the tomb built on an area of land rented in London.  Before the show opens, a girl in the flat above Sapolio's is murdered.  The obvious suspect is her boyfriend, Tony, but when Tony is himself killed the murder investigation falters.  The only person with a lead to the identity of the girl's killer is Sapolio, but fortunately he is by now safely enclosed in his glass prison.  No murderer can reach him here, or so it seems...