LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

LeonLouisRicci Hammer Studios was Yet to Find its Niche and Managed to Make B-Films of Different American Genres in Their Pre-Horror Boom. The Studio's Late Entries Into the Noir Cycle were Not Bad but Still a Day Late and a Dollar Short.Even the American Born Genre of Film-Noir was Showing Signs of "Evolving" or "Devolving" into More Palatable Pictures in that More Optimistic and Eisenhower Friendly "Crime Dramas" and All but Abandoned the Cynicism and Dark Undertones of the Best of the Noris.Here there are a Couple of Scenes that Remind of What those Dark Films Offered, Like a Nightmre Alley with a Killer on the Loose and a Claustrophobic Greenhouse Finale that Highlight. Dane Clark does a Fine Job as a Fate Gone Wrong Businessman and Shows Some Range. The Supporting Cast Not So Much as Most of the Characters are Shallow and Purely Pedestrian.Worth a Watch for Hammer Completest and B-Movie Crime Fans, but by 1954 Film-Noir was Turning into Something Different and This One was Caught on the Edge of the Transition and While Nothing Special, it is One More that Can Be Put on that List of Film-Noirs that have Many Entries that Simply Seem to Fit Arguably and Not Comfortably.

kuciak This is by no means a great film. It however still holds interest for the politics of the film. The producer, Libert had an agreement with Hammer film studios that he would provide known American actors in British films. Forced into this situation, came this interesting film. Like the Quatermass films with Brian Donlevy, we are shown two men, who are not identified as I remember as Americans, but we can tell are (though Paul Carpenter was born in Canada) One is at the top of the social ladder, and one more so at the bottom. They are supposedly friends, having that "American" bond. When Paul Carpenter arrives at Dane Clarks home, a party is going on. Though Clark is not their. People are elegantly dressed, but Paul comes very casual to say the least, which really sets him apart from the other people at the party, apparently all British. One of the guests at the party is one of the people who works at Clarkes company, being in the boardroom, who is earlier accused by a colleague of only having this job because of family connections. Clark on the other hand arrives at this party late, possibly from working late. While he is dressed in a tie, he does not go into the milieu of the party, but views his wife from an opening in a wall. As we can see, he is somewhat the chairman of a board, and believes that he has gotten into a business deal that will ruin his company, and his reputation. He has the intent of hiring Paul Carpenter, as Paul to kill him, so that his wife, who he loves deeply can collect the insurance. Later of course, Clarke's character will realize that the deal that he failed would fail, has gone through, and will make the company a fortune. The plot of this somewhat implausible story is now for Clark to save his own life. The interesting thing about the film are the relationships. While Clark loves his wife deeply, I somewhat suspected that she did not return this in kind, and of course this would be revealed in the end, and that she does not love Dane Clarks character, a man we can see somewhat had to fight his way to the top, but the Englishman played by Anthony Forwood, a man born into money. She blames Clark for marrying her for her wealth, and says she despises him.Here is Clarks character, an American head of a British Company, who is often separate from the rest of his people on the board, who is delusional that his British wife loves him, and believe that he has a British friend, who is actually trying to kill him. On the board he has a member who is antagonistic to him, and does not like the methods of which Dane Clarks character will try to get results, considering them underhanded and dangerous. While he is fat and old, while Clark is young and slim, he seems to take the case of defending British honor against Clark, which will culminate in a Turkish bathhouse scene, which has somewhat homosexual overtones, where the Englishman will express his dislike for Clark, to Clarks humiliation. Clarks relationship with his secretary however is totally different. She is devoted to him, so much so that when he yells at her, one almost feels a sado-masochistic relationship, that he could probably take somewhere and beat her, and she would feel it is showing her devotion to him. Mirroring this is a devotion from a barmaid to Paul Carpenters character, (a caricature of the Ugly American?)a misguided love, though not in the same vane as Clarks relationship with his secretary. Throughout the film, we are shown a disdain of some of the characters for Americana, and also from others a reverence. One writer here reviewing the film has suggested that with the demise of Clarke's scheming wife, that he will have free reign with his secretary. While she has stated her love for him while he tried to strangle the true love of his wife. It is interesting the last scene, when he carries his wife's dead body from the garden house to the home. He feels that is where her body belongs, and one still sees, though he should really feel disdain, a misguided love for this dead woman. The secretary who loves him, and has saved him from death, seems to follow him dejectedly into the house. Does the American Clark, really love his dead wife for what she represents, some idea of British wealth. It could be argued that he will really not fall in love with his secretary, as she is in the lower status of the British social order.

FilmFlaneur Taking advantage of arrangements favoured by the UK's Eady levy (a state film subsidy established after the war) in 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent - frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country - while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers -including 5 DAYS/ PAID TO KILL.Dane Clark appeared several times under the production arrangement, but makes one of his most successful entries here as a man in a jam, with a plan, and a dame. Possessing a characteristic persecuted look, Clark is eminently suited to the role of businessman James Nevill who - fearing that a big deal has gone sour - pays a friend to kill him, to secure insurance money for his unsuspecting wife. Nevill abruptly needs to change his murderous instructions when matters change for the better, but cannot find his unreliable friend. He finds the repeated attempts on his life - whoever it is making them - too close for comfort. Says a business acquaintance of Nevill's business style that: "it's okay for cutthroat and adventure - but not for the City of London." Such a contrast exists elsewhere in a film containing one or two jarring, humorous scenes, featuring Charles Hawtrey (a non-speaking part) partnering Nevill's troublesome, truculent investor. Away from these distractions the film is much stronger, notably in the understated love for Nevill shown by his secretary Joan (Cecile Chavreau), which is played subtly. Although for many the film's final twist is telegraphed someway in advance, 5 Days/Paid To Kill is reasonably suspenseful and largely successful on its own terms, efficiently directed by Tully.

fordraff These comments contain spoilers, including major plot details.This is part of the newest DVD Kit Parker Double Feature, Hammer Film Noir series. The films in the series are British B films, usually featuring a has-been American actor in the lead with a supporting British cast. Because of the American name in the lead, the films were issued in the United States as well as England, usually under a different name in the U.S. than in England.Today "film noir" is used so indiscriminately to describe films that there's not much point is saying this film doesn't qualify as noir, though in Andrea Nevill, the protagonist's wife, it does have a femme noir or femme fatale who deceives her husband (cliché). And in a wife contriving with her lover to murder her husband, we have a standard noir plot (cliché).Dane Clark is the has-been American star here, and he does well enough, though he is a fish out of water among all these English actors. I've seen Paul Carpenter in other British films, most recently in "The House across the Lake," another film in this Hammer Film Noir series. He's a handsome, appealing guy, not properly cast here as a hit man. But Thea Gregory as the wife comes across well as a beautiful, upper-class woman. Although Cecile Chevreau as secretary Joan Peterson, secretly in love with her boss Jim (cliché), isn't attractive enough for a romantic leading lady role, she does offer solid support.For me the icing on the cake here was Anthony Forwood as Peter Glanville. As we all know now from recent reputable biographies, he was Dirk Bogarde's lover, and by the time this film was in production, he and Dirk were living together, though Bogarde continued to date studio starlets to maintain the illusion of heterosexuality. Certainly, Forwood was more attractive than Bogarde was and obviously had a more outgoing personality, able to smooth the waters that Bogarde frequently stirred up with his cold, snobbish personality. Forwood didn't make many films, but I have seen him in some others. As here, he was always competent in his performances, though he never appeared in challenging roles.At 70 minutes, this is a pleasant enough time waster.