jamesraeburn2003 An alcoholic, blackmailing dentist called Feldon (Norman Bird) is visited by a sinister hooded stranger who forces him to rob his own victim, the businessman John Brent (Stewart Grainger). When he visits Feldon for a dental appointment which, in fact, acts as a cover for the pay offs, the dentist injects him with a truth serum in order to extract the combination to the safe at the shipping company where he works and makes impressions of the keys to his house and the vault so they can be duplicated without him being any the wiser. Feldon hands them over to his confederate and we learn that Brent's estranged wife, Nicole (Hara Harareet), is the mystery man's accomplice: her 'Secret Partner'. They have hatched a fool proof plan to steal £130,000 from the shipping company and frame Brent for the lot. The police led by Superintendent Hanbury (Bernard Lee) arrest him on his boat in France where he is holidaying, but he escapes and sets out to clear his name. But who is Nicole's mysterious secret partner? The interior designer, Clive Lang (John Lee), her new boyfriend, or Dr Rickford (Conrad Philips), who is clearly attracted to her? Or Brent's business associate Charles Standish (Hugh Burden) who is jealous because he has been passed over for promotion in the favour of him? Hanbury discovers that Brent has form for embezzlement and has since changed his name. However, he is not convinced that he has an open and shut case like his colleagues do and wants to retire from the force with the satisfaction of having solved it correctly...From the formidable producer-director team of Michael Relph and Basil Dearden, The Secret Partner was their attempt at a suspenser in the Hitchcock mould with a dash of film noir thrown in for good measure. It isn't entirely successful in the latter because Harareet's character isn't allowed enough scope in her involvement with the three men; all of whom the audience are invited to suspect may have been manipulated by her into doing the crime. In that respect it adds to the intrigue, but due to insufficient development the passions and emotional element are all but lost. Furthermore, Nicole is a femme fatale of a kind, but she repents her ways later on and, sadly, Harareet seems rather wooden in the part.However, The Secret Partner most certainly works as a satisfying thriller thanks to an excellent script by the reliable writing duo of David Pursall and Jack Seddon who throw in red herrings and plot twists aplenty to keep us guessing and guessing wrongly right up until the end when we finally learn the identity of Nicole's secret partner. I must confess it wasn't who I expected it to be. Basil Dearden's taut direction and Raymond Poulton's sharp editing combine to do justice to the appealing plot and sustain the tension throughout. Harry Waxman's b/w camera-work neatly captures the authentic London locations that add to the sense of place and mystery. Aside from Stewart Grainger as the hero who adds a touch of Hollywood glamour in a part straight out of Hitchcock, there is a wonderful supporting cast of first rate British actors to enjoy who all go through their paces with vigour.

dbdumonteil A good thriller,which loses steam halfway through ,but regains its interest in the last thirty minutes,thanks to a very good unexpected twist.Yes there was such a thing almost fifty years ago.An aging Stewart Granger portrays a wealthy British Bourgeois with a shady past whose marriage with Nicole (the beautiful Haya Harareet,famous for her part of Esther in "Ben Hur") is on the rocks. His dentist blackmails him ,and around him ,everybody may be a potential danger.The plot involves drugs,robbery,a soon-to-be-retired cop and plenty of foggy views of London in a bleak black and white.It's not in the same as league as Hitchcock,but it's quite entertaining.

johnhclarke The plot creaks along slightly but worth seeing for the views of London docks as they were. The Bernard Lee character is also memorable for the number of cigarettes he smokes. In every scene he's in, he's either smoking, lighting up or lighting another cigarette from his previous one. Obviously a 60-a-day man. Older viewers will recall Conrad Phillips at the star of the long-running William Tell TV series in which he battled Willoughby Goddard who appears in the movie as the seedy hotel keeper. Stalwart British character actors Norman Bird, Hugh Burden and Lee Montague also shine, while Melissa Stibling was the wife of the film's director Basil Dearden

moatazmohsen78 Stewart Granger was the best actor in English cinema in their history , he was famous in the kind of historical films especially in the time of 17th until 19th centuries.In this film he made a surprise for the audience for changing his choice for the kind of thriller films which was cleverness from him to prove for all people that he was good actor and great artist in his history , he increased in this classical film beside his diamond films as:1- prisoner of Zenda. 2- The treasure of king Solemon. 3- Beau Brummel. 4- Salome.This film made their thriller in cleverly way with professional touch which made it their success.