Liz Fraser

Kenneth Griffith

Peter Reynolds

Tony Wickert

Craig Douglas

Nanette Newman

Ray Smith

David Hemmings

Harold Berens

Grazina Frame

Richard McNeff

Gerald Sim

Rosemary Chalmers

Mia Karam

Terence Maidment

Bill Stevenson

Lionel Ngakane

Ann Wrigg

Philip Johns

Tony Castleton

Alex Graham

George Hilsdon

Ned Hood

Arthur Howell

Jack Silk

Jeff Silk

Joe Wadham

Lance Comfort

Tom Blakeley

George Provis

Brock Williams

John Trumper

Norman Bolland

Pip Baker

Jane Baker

Pat Green

George Claff

Bobbie Smith

Frank Drake

Basil Emmott

Peter Price

Maude Churchill

Phyllis Townshend

Martin Slavin

Thriller

The Painted Smile

Blakeley's Films (M/C) Ltd.

Mancunian Films

United Kingdom

CinemaSerf

I rather enjoyed Kenneth Griffith's performance here as the malevolent "Kleinie". He finds himself caught up in the amateur shenanigans of "Jo" (Liz Fraser) and "Mark" (Peter Reynolds). Now this pair have an habit of using her as a lure for young men whom she invites back to her flat only for her "husband" to arrive and try a little extortion. Well, they hit on the newly flush lad - "Tom" (Tony Wickert) - but when she returns to finish the sting, "Kleinie" calls alerting her to a shocking surprise in the bedroom. The young "Tom" is too drunk to offer much resistance to her rather ill thought-out plan and before he knows it he is being sought by the police for murder. What now ensues is a fairly run-of-the-mill British crime noir as both "Tom" and "Jo" have to stay one step ahead of the pursuing police whilst their nasty nemesis has plans for them of his own. Fraser was a competent enough comedy actress, but here she hasn't really the gravitas to engender much of a sense of danger. Wickert fares slightly better as the not-so-hapless youth - once he sobers up - but there isn't much jeopardy here and as the plot shuttles along we are well aware of how things are going to turn out. It's only an hour long, though, and Lance Comfort doesn't let it hang about - it moves along well enough with a basic but adequate production and a rather hectic score from Martin Slavin to keep it watchable, if forgettable.

English