The Limping Man (1953)

***SPOILERS*** Nobody knew at the time when the film "The Limping Man" came limping into the theaters in late 1953 what an impact it would have on it's audiences who were still around, if they didn't walk out earlier, for the films last few shocking and totally unexpected moments. It started out as your usual crime assassination flick with returning US WWII veteran Frank Prior, Llyod Bridges, getting off a plane from NY in London to rekindle an affair he had with his British girlfriend Pauline French, Moria Listen, six years ago. That soon lead to one of the plane passengers getting gunned down by an unseen sniper as Frank was about to give him a light! From then on Frank was hounded by Scotland Yard's Insp. Braddock, Alan Wheatley, and his assistant the skirt chasing Det. Cameron, Leslie Phillips, for the entire length of the movie. As for Pauline she seemed to have had some romantic relationship with the murdered man revealed to be Kendal Brown, Bruce Beebe, who was involved in smuggling contraband into the country.It soon turns out that whoever murdered Kendal Brown had a noticeable limp, from the footprints found at the scene, and it was that limp or limper whom both the police Scotland Yard as well as Frank were out looking for to find Browns killer. As for Pauline she knew the truth all along about Brown and his illegal activities and kept her mouth shut so she won't be implicated in them. There's also the late Kendal Brown's estranged wife showgirl and magician aid Helene Castle, Helene Cordet, who identified his body at the London City morgue who didn't seem to show any emotion at all in knowing that he's gone and now not paying her rent or clothing bills!***SPOILERS*** The movie leads up to a number of unexpected surprises in that we as well as Frank & Palline find out that Brown wasn't killed at all but faked his death by using some unknowing stooge, in not realizing what's to happen to him,to replace him and end up getting murdered! As for the now live Brown he want's his former lover Pauline to pay him off, with 2,000 pounds sterling, and slip him out of the country to France in her motorboat. That or else he'll release a number of revealing and incriminating letters that she sent him not just about her romance but criminal activities she had with him. The film ends with such a confusing climax that you have to re-watch it to get the massage that it's trying to tell you. That's if you ever saw the movie "The Wizard Oz" you'll quickly realize what it is!

When in the middle of this film, Lloyd Bridges asks about a certain clue, "What do you make of it?", you may, like me, expect the flamboyant Johnny from "Airplane!" to jump in and say, "A hat, a broach, a pterodactyl!". Yes, like Peter Graves, Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen, the Bridges patriarch started off in dramatic roles, yet found his niche in spoofing his own image through comedy. It is difficult to separated him from these roles even though he originally played either heavies or action heroes before changing his image by stating, "Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue!" Here, he's all serious, an American visiting England who was at the airport when a sniper shot a mystery man who turns out to be the other man in a triangle with Bridges' estranged girlfriend (Moira Lister). Bridges learns the truth and details about his girlfriend's secret life that leads him into all sorts of intrigue.American stars in British film noir and thrillers added a smooth touch to the stiff upper lip pretense of the English in all sorts of parts, good and evil, and the results could be very mixed at times. The Hammer Noir was decidedly mixed, and this ranks among them as an acceptable, if unremarkable, thriller with moments of tension and other sequences sometimes dull and slowly paced. Bridges stands out like a sore thumb among the rest of the cast, and if it wasn't for some crafty dark photography, this might well have fallen below the mark.So try to put aside your desire to quote him from "Airplane!" or the "Hot Shots" movies and instead, take a trip into the dives of London, Music Halls and pups and let Bridges remind you of what a serious actor he used to be before a diving suit and the Zucker Brothers changed his image forever.

I saw this movie at the Internet Archive and was pleased with the quality of the copy. I have always liked Lloyd Bridges and remember his television show, Sea Hunt, quite fondly. I sure am glad I first watched the movie and then read the reviews here. I might have given the movie a skip had I read the reviews first and that would have been a shame. The movie has a lot going for it – it has a solid cast, is fast paced with good location shots and atmosphere, has the odd flash of humor (great scene where a couple of kids are caught watching TV. when they should be asleep as noted by another reviewer) and is suspenseful. Since I was not familiar – or did not recognize – a few of the actors mentioned by others, I'll probably give this movie a second watching just to see them. Although I'm glad I saw this movie and may well see it again, the ending was a huge let down. What were the producers of this movie thinking? Worse ending ever.

People had told me about the ending of "The Limping Man" - my response was how bad could it be - the answer - extremely bad!!!! It would have been so much easier to end the film on a more conventional note - but no, someone with a vivid imagination thought - I will make this really memorable - it was memorable but for all the wrong reasons!!!Frank Prior (Lloyd Bridges) is flying back to England to see whether the girl he met during the war still loves him as much as he does her. Crossing the tarmac, one of the passengers is killed by an unknown sniper, just after Prior asks him for a light. After being cleared to go by the police, Frank, tries to contact his friend, Pauline, whose photo just happens to be in the dead man's (Kendall Brown) pocket. When he catches up with Pauline (Moira Lister) she is quite nervous. The police also want to talk to Helen Castle (Helene Cordet), who has a novelty magic act "Hey Presto". She was Kendall's wife but they have been separated for 3 years - or so she says!!!Meanwhile Frank and Pauline spend a leisurely day on the river but when the boat runs out of petrol the man who comes to their assistance seems to know her, as does a stranger from the pub. (Rachel Roberts has a few moments as a chatty barmaid). Then Frank sees the limping man!!!! He finds he is deep in a plot that involves smuggling and incriminating love letters. There is a very funny scene where Frank and Pauline climb into a room (to evade the police) where two children are watching TV - the children get upset because they think the strangers will tell their parents about their nocturnal TV viewing. When they go downstairs the parents are having a party and just assume Frank and Pauline guests!!This was typical of the style of thrillers that John Mills had made ("The Long Memory" etc). I agree Moira Lister was very lack lustre and seemed quite unexciting in her role, certainly not interesting enough to be the dare devil she portrayed. More interesting was Jean Marsh, who became famous playing Rose in the prestigious TV series "Upstairs, Downstairs" - she made her debut in this film playing the land lady's teenage daughter. Lloyd Bridges had several leading roles before his phenomenally successful role as Mike Nelson in the TV series "Sea Hunt".