Man In The Attic
- Css Darth-Sheol
- Feb 18, 2015
- 3 min read
Who is this Man in the Attic? Slade claims to be a pathologist but he acts strangely preferring high levels of privacy and odd, late-night hours. His landlady thinks he may be Jack the Ripper killing girls in the streets of Whitechapel. Lily is a young girl living in the same house and is quite taken with Slade, but an investigator from Scotland Yard wants her for himself. Will Inspector Warwick use his position to stifle his competition whether or not Slade is actually guilty of anything?
It’s odd seeing a young Jack Palance who plays the lead role (If I happen to refer to his character as “Jack” I'm meaning Palance – not implying that he really is Jack the Ripper a question at which I will not hint one way or another in this review) . I don’t think I’ve ever seen him looking like anything other than a hardened old man. Here he’s soft-spoken. He manages to be nice to an extent but creepy enough that there’s a question about whether he’s really fiend or foe.
The acting in general is fair with some moments of good performances but also some that are not quite so good. Constance Smith makes a suitably lovely love-interest, and the older couple serving as Slade's landlords make their quarrels seem believable. Byron Palmer as the Inspector doesn't blow me away but isn't bad.
I wanted to like this movie, and it's mostly the decent performances that keep me from hating it. Even so, I have too many other problems with it. It’s rather slow for one thing hobbling along at a snail's pace without enough atmosphere or tension to compensate. It has some showtune numbers that go on way too long and aren’t very good. Then again I don’t much like even “good” showtunes so maybe I’m biased there.
This seems to be partly a commentary on the police force in London. They make comments about having to use clubs to go up against someone armed with a wicked knife. The queen makes a couple of broad and unsubstantiated claims about who Jack the Ripper is using questionable logic. But what can you do? She’s the queen! So you may or may not appreciate the remarks made. I thought they added some wit to the slow-moving story.
The ending wraps up Slade's story (which is not particularly strong) but does not give any closure for any of the other characters. The husband and wife who have been arguing over the identity of Slade this whole time, what are their reactions now that they know the truth? I find it rather a let down that the identity of the Ripper is revealed at all. Since to this day the best we can do is theorize who he might have been it would have made for a stronger story to leave him ambiguous in the movie.
MORALITY:
Typical of black and white movies this is tame. There is little if any real violence; no sex, nudity, or strong language.
SPIRITUALITY:
We all pass judgments on the people we see. It's hard to not wonder why a person acts oddly, and when there's a sense of danger, understandable with a serial killer running around the area, fear feeds the unease. Some find judgments of such people unconscionable, but in condemning those they deem to be “judgmental” are they not passing judgment as well?
Here we see people coming to different conclusions about people based on whether or not they feel justified in their judgments. What's interesting is that no matter who is right someone is going to get hurt. Ultimately one person's erroneous view allows more victims to fall prey to a killer despite good intentions. This view might have just as easily been the right one which means the opposition would have resulted in damaging someone innocent.
You're making a judgment call of some type even if you think of yourself as non-judgmental. If you don't make those calls with wisdom you could be allowing evil to propagate just as easily as you could be protecting someone innocent.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
It’s not so bad it's a painful viewing experience, but neither does it offer enough that’s interesting. More atmosphere and stronger character follow-up might have made this more interesting. As it is I recommend it only to those with a particular interest in the topic or style.
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