BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Robert J. Maxwell Several commenters have chided this, the final picture of Gary Cooper, for being overscored. They did so with good reason. William Alwyn's music almost turn the story into a parody of a suspense movie -- "The Naked Gun" rather than "The Naked Edge." It's awful.But it's concordant with the direction by Michael Anderson. In the first five minutes, while Cooper is being questioned in a British courtroom, he is asked who else was in the building when the murder occurred. Cooper hesitates, looks uncomfortable, and finally says, "Heath." The camera zooms at lightning speed into a closeup of the man's startled face, accompanied by a crescendo of brass. Terrible. The jury foreman stands up and says, "Yes, your honor. We find the defendant (cut suddenly to a giant closeup of the speakers face) -- "guilty." The defendant leaps to his feet and shrieks, "I'm innocent! YOU did it, Radcliffe!" Ho hum. It's a dark, spare melodrama and resembles an episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." As a matter of fact, the plot is similar to Hitchock's "Suspicion." Well, poor Mr. Heath is marched off to the slams for the rest of his life. And if he did the murder and absconded with the sixty thousand pounds, he well deserves his sentence. BUT -- did he do it? Immediately after the trial, Cooper begins acting strangely. He speaks of grandiose plans involving a great deal of capital. Where did the money come from? He's been playing the stock market and, "I made a KILLING." He roughs up a man who is following him out of curiosity. All this, and more, foments uncertainty in the mind of his wife, Deborah Kerr, who -- and I hate to use this expression -- is as lovely as she's ever been. She has long wavy hair, innocent features, a recherché nose, and a winsome voice. She breathes elegance. If she lived to be a hundred years old, she'd still be elegant. I -- I just thought for a second of her legs, and I grovel in shame.Six years after the trial, Cooper has gone up in the business world and the couple are now well off. But a blackmail letter arrives. Kerr is still puzzled, still believes Cooper innocent of any wrongdoing but Cooper himself senses doubt in her, and he's upset by the letter. He snarls a bit and frowns, lighted in such a way as to be caricature of a man with a secret. There's a shot of him sharpening his straight razor. A slight chicane in the plot here. Cooper began spending money to buy property a year after the murder and theft. He claims he made money on the stock market. Easily solved. I could write Kerr's line for her. "Oh, dear, I have nothing to do this afternoon and I wonder if I might leaf through your brokerage accounts and see if I can understand any of it without my poor head swimming." It wouldn't take much skill to interpret the trades. Anyone could understand my account, despite the rusty stains of dried blood and the gloss of vulgar expressions.The performances are professional enough, although it's difficult to watch someone like Gary Cooper acting not just like a murderer but like a particularly dumb one. It's sad too because we know now that he was not only old but dying. Nice job by Eric Portman as the man who knew too much. All are hobbled by the inferior script and the pedestrian direction. It's not an insulting movie, and it does have its moments, but neither is it very good.

MartinHafer When the film begins, George Radcliffe (Gary Cooper) is in court testifying in a murder case. Another man is subsequently convicted of the murder and the story jumps ahead several years. Now Radcliffe is rich and successful...and his wife receives an anonymous blackmail note. The note would seem to indicate that George was the real murderer! Well, instead of going to the police like any sane woman, she whines and way, way overacts for the entire rest of the film and I don't think I've ever seen Deborah Kerr more shrill and awful. She's not an actress, she's an over-actress!!! She overacts so badly it's embarrassing and I am shocked the director didn't tone down her performance so she only seemed like a totally crazy person (this would have been an improvement!!). But to make matters worse, in some of the subsequent scenes, the music goes nuts...absolutely nuts...with strains that sure sound inspired by the soundtrack from "Psycho". The problem is that NOTHING IS HAPPENING in these scenes and the music is totally inappropriate!!!"The Naked Edge" could have been a very good film. It's obvious that the director was going for a 'Hitchcockian' sort of picture but there are just to many problems with his direction and it comes off as second rate (at best). Now the problem is NOT the script. After all, Joseph Stefano wrote it...and he's the same guy responsible for "Psycho" and many of the best "Outer Limits" episodes. The story, aside from the overacting and bad music, is actually VERY good....even if it is highly reminiscent of "Suspicion". No, the problem is something that I would pin on three things...and sadly, it's Gary Cooper's last film and he deserved better.With different music and a different actress (or different direction) it could have easily earned an 8 or possibly a 9. The film is like a beautiful mansion that has dry rot and extensive termite damage hidden within the walls and foundation.

bkoganbing Gary Cooper's last film is a Hitchcock like tale of a man who wrongly identifies the killer of his boss during a robbery. It was an inside job so we have a closed pool of suspects. Years later a mail pouch that was lost during another robbery and a blackmail letter is delivered to Cooper. Wife Deborah Kerr now thinks her husband did it and becomes fearful.This sounds a lot like Hitchcock's Suspicion and in fact the whole film is a case of Hitchcock wannabe. I won't identify the real culprit, but if you watch the first half hour, you'll know. Very little suspense involved at all. Cast does the best it could with the material they were given.

perfectbond The suspense of this film evokes the work of Alfred Hitchcock. It doesn't quite live up to such a comparison but nonetheless the plot and character interactions should rivet most viewers to the film. Creative shot selection (especially the preparation of the wife's death), fine performances (especially from Deborah Kerr), and a compelling plot create an entertaining movie experience, 7/10. I think this was Gary Cooper's last screen performance.