L'affare Blindfold

This is a pleasant mystery thriller with some light comedic moments and as such is typical of a lot of movies made in the same period of the middle to late sixties, most with one word titles such as this one has. Partly inspired by the popularity of the stylish "Charade" of a few years earlier, and more obviously influenced by Hitchcock, this is a mixed group of films with often middle aged or lesser known actors in the lead. This one has a biggie: Rock Hudson. He plays a psychiatrist with the wonderfully slick, Hollywoodish name of Bartholomew Snow, who gets in trouble up to his ears and, more to the point, eyeballs, when one of his patients turns out to be a prominent scientist who's being trailed some rather unsavory characters.

Hudson's ably supported by the luscious Claudia Cardinale, and the two make a very attractive couple. Also good is the late Jack Warden in a key role, and Guy Stockwell as a man who stutters. There's really no need to go much further into the plot except to say if one is in the mood for stylish, anodyne entertainment, this is a good one to catch. It has good credentials, too: directed by Philip Dunne, from a Lucille Fletcher story, photographed by the legendary Joe MacDonald. Though not on the Hitchcock level, the movie exudes class. While I wouldn't call this a brilliant film, it never insult the viewer's intelligence.