The Dark Man – 1951 | 90 mins | Thriller | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Implausible British thriller about a double killing in a small south-east coast seaside town and the murderer’s many attempts to kill the one surviving witness. The film starts promisingly enough but the likelihood of a cold-blooded killer somehow managing to spurn all the opportunities to kill pretty Natasha Parry stretches plausibility. 52-year-old Edward Underdown is clearly too old to be the young policeman and love interest, but brooding Maxwell Reed is very effective as the shadowy ‘dark man’.

Following the murder of small-time black-marketeer Mostyn, the shadowy ‘dark man’ (Maxwell Reed) of the films title also kills the one person who can identify him; a taxi driver who drove him to Mostyn’s farmhouse. After shooting the driver in a secluded wood another eye-witness passes by, budding actress Molly Lester (Natasha Polly). Inspector Jack Viner (Edward Underdown) is assigned to the case and swiftly falls in love with Molly. Meanwhile, the ‘dark man’ continues to shadow Molly, and after failed attempts to strangle her at her flat and a botched kidnapping, he is later cornered by the police and the army on a practice shooting range.