The Upturned Glass – 1947 | 96 mins | Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Poorly titled, The Upturned Glass is a brooding compendium of post-war Gainsborough melodramatic plot devices told in an experimental structure of unnecessary flashbacks and narrated by James Mason. The film was co-produced Mason, and co-written by Mason’s wife at the time and co-star Pamela Kellino.

The film opens with prosperous London surgeon Michael Joyce (James Mason) giving a lecture at a medical college and relating the case history of a vengeful surgeon who has committed a composed and calculated murder.

Joyce saves Emma Wright’s (Rosamund John) young daughter Ann from blindness, whereupon the two become close friends during Ann’s lengthy recuperation. Both are trapped in a loveless marriage, Emma’s husband is out of the country, but just as it seems they’re about to embark on a passionate affair – they break it off and vow never to meet again.

When Emma dies after mysteriously falling from a window, Michael suspects that the culprit is her jealous sister-in-law Kate (Pamela Kellino) when he observes her prompting Ann during the coroner’s enquiry. Acting on his suspicions, Mason murders Kate by pushing her to her death from the same window, stuffs her body in the boot of his car, and drives along the coastal road to dispose of the corpse. Before he is able to do this, Joyce halts in a fog bank and meets fellow surgeon Dr. Farrell (Brefni O’Rorke) and is called to the home of a dying child involved in a car crash. Despite the risk of being exposed as a murderer, Joyce leaves his car unattended to rush to the side of the stricken child. Subsequently, a comforted Joyce drives to the Dover coast questioning his sanity.