Movie Type: Post-Noir (Modern Noir), Psychological Thriller
Themes: Private Eyes, Miscarriage of Justice, Cons and Scams
Main Cast: Liam Neeson, Laura San Giacomo, Kenneth Cranham, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Stephen Moore, Maggie O'Neill
Release Year: 1992
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 99 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Simon Moore's directorial debut (his also wrote the screenplay) is a brooding thriller that takes place in the melancholy British resort town of Brighton in the 1950s. Liam Neeson stars as Tony Aaron, a disreputable ex-cop who now makes a living as a sleazy private eye. With his wife Hazel (Maggie O'Neill) as bait, he arranges compromising photographs of errant husbands whose wives require proof of marital infidelities in order to obtain divorces. But one day, Aaron bursts into a hotel room to find Hazel and her client, a famed American painter, murdered; the painter's body has been mutilated, and his thumb, with which he signed his paintings, is cut off and missing. With an old crony of Aaron's, Frank (Kenneth Cranham), leading the investigation, two lead suspects are brought to the fore --Selina (Alphonsia Emmanuel), the painter's widow; and Angeline (Laura San Giacomo), the painter's mistress. And it is with Angeline, the person most likely to have killed the painter, that Aaron falls in love. But soon the tables are turned. When the victims were found to have been killed with Aaron's gunm and a neighbor leaves a suicide note claiming that Aaron is the killer, Aaron is arrested and found guilty of the killings. But right before Aaron's execution, a surprising piece of new evidence is discovered that changes everything. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Malcolm Storry - Waterston; Alan Talbot - Powers; Martin Grace - Colin; Kevin Moore - Barrister; Victoria Alcock - 2nd Chambermaid; Michael Almaz - Simon Stasio; Joanna Brookes - Travel Agent; Max Cane - Switchboard Operator; Noel Coleman - Judge; P.J. Davidson - Executioner; Colin Dudley - Hotel Waiter; Andrew Dunford - Clerk of the Court; Richard Graham - Denny; Kenneth Hadley - Forensic Scientist; Tony Hughes - Undertaker; Terry John - Switchboard Operator; Nicolette McKenzie - Mrs. Roscoe; Alex Norton - Prosecuting Lawyer; Stephen Oxley - Hotel Deskman; Alison Ruffelle - 1st Chambermaid; Gordon Salkilld - Prison Governor; Roy Sampson - Foreman of the Jury; Danny Schiller - Defence Lawyer; Pamela Sholto - Housekeeper; Alan Stocks - Paul; Lee Whitlock - Ben; Christopher Whittingham - Prison Warder; Mike Fenton; Tommy Wright - Hotel Janitor; Steve Murray - Executioner's Assistant
Credit
Tony Reading - Art Director, Vincent Winter - Associate Producer, Penny Rose - Costume Designer, Simon Moore - Director, Albert Jurgenson - Editor, Tariq Anwar - Editor, Nick Elliott - Executive Producer, Christopher Gunning - Composer (Music Score), Ken Weston - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tim Hutchinson - Production Designer, Bruno Nuytten - Cinematographer, Ivan Strasburg - Cinematographer, Vernon Layton - Cinematographer, Fred Turner - Producer, Brian Eastman - Producer, Stephenie McMillan - Set Designer, Steve Hamilton - Special Effects, Simon Moore - Screenwriter
