10 Rillington Place (1971) Brit Serial Killer Noir

Wow an excellent Neo Noir from Richard Fleischer, who would have thunk it? lol - 

I'm saying that sarcastically, because how is it that Aficio-Noir -dos, and Noiristas don't hear very much about Fleischer's post The Narrow Margin Film Noir? 

I have, within the last few years, been able to watch a recently restored release of The Boston Strangler. It's a film that could not be fully appreciated on our old  4:3 (1.33:1) TV's. It was an innovative at times, multiple split screen film. It could not possibly be shown in Pan & Scan without loosing a lot of the narrative. So it had to be, because of this split screen nature and the universal aspect ratio of the time, effectively lost to the general TV public for 22 years. Widescreen TV's have been around for 29 years. And in those last 29 years how many cable casts of The Boston Strangler were possibly shown? See what I mean?

I've since watched Fleischer's The New Centurions it is easily another Neo Noir, this time a variation of a Police Procedural Noir. I suggest you Noristas also give it looksee. I also watched a PQ streamer of Fleischer's Crack in the Mirror (1960), it's an interesting story with the gimmick of three performers for six roles the actors are Orson Welles, Juliette Gréco, and Bradford Dillman. I'll wait for decent release to rewatch and review it. 

We should probably also check out Fleischer's Compulsion with our Noir shaded glasses on to see if it to might be another contender. 

10 Rillington Place was written by Clive Exton and based on the book Ten Rillington Place by Ludovic Kennedy. The Cinematography was by Denys N. Coop (Bunny Lake Is Missing). Music by John Dankworth.

The film stars Richard Attenborough as John Christie, Judy Geeson as Beryl Evans, John Hurt as Timothy Evans, Pat Heywood as Ethel Christie. 

Richard Attenborough as John Christie

Judy Geeson as Beryl Evans

John Hurt as Timothy Evans

Pat Heywood as Ethel Christie

With Isobel Black as Alice, Robert Hardy as Malcolm Morris, Geoffrey Chater as Christmas Humphreys, André Morell as Judge Lewis, Sam Kydd as Furniture Dealer, Jimmy Gardner as Mr.Con Lynch, Gabrielle Daye as Mrs.Vi Lynch, Rudolph Walker as Beresford Brown, Phyllis MacMahon as Muriel Eady.

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood

A beautiful day for a neighbor

Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

You guessed it John Christie reminds you of  very demented Mr. Rogers. Christie is very soft spoken and polite to all his unsuspecting victims. It's disturbingly creepy. 

The film starts off during the London Blitz in 1944. Christie is a Special Constable, something like a UK equivalent of an Air Raid Warden. These men and women had special duties during an air-raid alert, either directing people to air-raid shelters or enforcing blackout regulations. He also has a locked first-aid cabinet which must be a requirement for the position.

Anyway, during a blackout Christie lures Muriel Eady to his flat by promising to cure her bronchitis. He's got a crude contrivance fashioned out of a V-shaped piece of cardboard, two rubber hoses, and a jar with two holes. He also grabs a length of coiled sash cord which he places in his pocket. He tells Muriel to have a lie down upon a blanket he has spread out. 

He puts what looks like ordinary milk into the jar, slides one end of one of the rubber hoses onto a "town gas" gas cock. The other end of that hose is inserted into the top of the jar enough so that it extends down into the milk. The other hose also is slid into the jar and it's other end is attached to the V-shaped piece of cardboard. We realize, right at the last moment, that it's a rudimentary gas mask.

He assures Muriel that the milk "mixture" is what has the cure. Tells her that she must breath deeply and that she will feel a bit of dizziness. Murial does as told until Christie starts to fondle her. When she starts to struggle, he uses the sash cord to strangle her. When she is dead he has sex with her corpse.

When Christie is done getting his rocks off, he drags Muriel out to the communal "garden" behind the flat, digs a hole and buries her. The kicker is that while doing this labor, we see revealed in the grave the foot of another previous woman victim Ruth Fuerst.

Ruth's foot

In 1949 the Christie and his wife Ethel get new upstairs neighbors. Tim and Beryl Evans move in with their infant daughter Geraldine. 

Ethel finds out that she preggers again, and since the family is financially strapped as it is she decides to try to abort the child by taking some pills. Tim finds out nd they have an argument, which Christie breaks up. 

Later on Christie informs Beryl that he had some experience in these matters while serving as a Special Constable during the war. He offers to help terminate the pregnancy. He shows Tim that he is brushing up on the procedure from his medical textbook to assure him. This is easy to do since Tim is illiterate and easily impressionable. Tim and Beryl agree to let Christe go ahead. 

Tim goes to his job, Christie sends Ethel to his job to deliver some paperwork, and when Beryl has a  violent reaction to his "town gas" treatment, he knocks her out, strangles her, and then has sex with her dead body.  

When Tim comes home, Christie explains that Beryl died of complications from the procedure.  Christie convinces him to skip town or otherwise he will be seen as an accessory before the fact. Christie tells Tim that he will dispose of Beryl's body down the storm drain at night. Christie also reassures him that he will see to it that Geraldine is taken in by some friends of his. Of course this is all bullshit.

Noirsville

Very good performances by Ricard Attenborough and Judy Gleeson; and a great performance by John Hurt. A movie that makes you think about it a long time after you see it. 8/10