Alias John Preston (1955) Online

This obscure psychological thriller, a typical "quota quickie" of British cinema during that period, is notable in hindsight for giving the late Sir Christopher Lee perhaps his first genuine star part; while the film's veritable protagonist, he still receives third (albeit above-the-title) billing after female lead Betta St. John (she would be reunited with the future horror icon on both CORRIDORS OF BLOOD {1958} and THE CITY OF THE DEAD {1960}) and Alexander Knox (who turns up well into the proceedings of this modest 66-minute offering in a role that is basically an extension of his character in Joseph Losey's THE SLEEPING TIGER {1954})! Other respectable names are those of cinematographer Jack Cox (responsible for Alfred Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES {1938}) and director MacDonald (who, after a promising career, seemed unable to surmount the commercial failure of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS {1949} – which led to him being reduced to helming the likes of DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS {1954}!).

Anyway, while the film under review is bracketed within the horror genre in the few reviews I could find, as I said, it really treads suspense territory – as the ambitious (and, unsurprisingly, supercilious) Lee begins to crack under the strain of a hazy past intermittently re-awakened in a series of "realistic" nightmares. While the first half is somewhat ordinary (another suitor for St. John, smitten since childhood, seems to be on hand merely as someone for her to fall back on after Lee – here in atypically romantic mode – finally goes off the deep end!), the couch sessions between doctor Knox and employer-cum-secret patient Lee (and which, more often than not, take the form of confrontations) grab the attention well enough. Similarly, though the dream sequences are necessarily not of the (perhaps expected) ethereal kind, the revelation packs a definite punch…though, in truth, the movie's title does rather give the game away too readily!

Christopher Lee stars as the mysterious John Preston, a World War II veteran of obscure provenance who settles in the rural English town of Deanbridge. Preston is a super intense type 'A' personality who intends to bring some much wanted new blood to Deanbridge, and he immediately makes a good impression on local banker Sandford (John Longden). He also makes a play for Sandford's daughter Sally (American actress Betta St. John), who's already betrothed to bank clerk Bob (Peter Grant), who has an odd trans-Atlantic accent that sets him apart from the locals. Preston's magnetic personality convinces Sally to take his hand in marriage, and he soon finds himself serving on the board of the local hospital. Indeed, everything seems to be coming up roses for young John--until newly appointed consultant psychiatrist Dr. Peter Walton (Canadian-born Alexander Knox) shows up and starts asking some probing questions. This cheap-jack Danziger Brothers production is engaging enough, but it is somewhat distracting listening to Lee speak in the odd accent he adopted for the role. It's not a bad picture, but you'll probably forget it as soon as it's over.

This weird overacted psychological melodrama is a convoluted mess of a movie that takes forever to reveal any reason for being. Christopher Lee tries to develop an interesting troubled character, but falls flat due to the messy script he's forced to deal with. As the quietly sinister titled character, he spends the first three quarters trying to keep a hidden face behind the title character's obvious madness, but it all explodes when he begins to see psychiatrist Alexander Knox, a friend of his fiancee, Betta St. John. Lee tries to explain frightening dreams that he's been having, and what comes out indicates that these dreams involving murder and a possible second personality responsible. By the time all is revealed, it's too little, too late for the audience to care, but fortunately, the film is short so that the audience won't feel cheated by wasting their time.

Well-known to the actor's fans as one of Christopher Lee's first starring roles, but not particularly widely seen, this threadbare Danziger Productions thriller is pretty awful stuff, even by its' makers' very low standards. Lee plays a standoffish businessman and WWII veteran who fetches up in a small Home Counties industrial town and starts investing in failing factories, and is before long accepted as a leading member of the community and prospective husband for local beauty Betta St. John. Unfortunately, he turns out to have a pretty murky past, which only comes to light when he's probed by Alexander Knox's psychoanalyst...

From the description above you'd be forgiven for thinking this might be a worthy British variation on Shadow of a Doubt, but you'd be wrong. It is not only crummily made and largely badly acted (this is the most mid-Atlantic sounding English village I've ever heard of, as the Canadian Knox, as well as the American St. John and some useless pinhead called Peter Grant as her disgruntled ex-suitor, all make no attempt to sound British, whilst Lee himself for some reason adopts an American accent of his own that is far less polished than the one he managed for The City of the Dead a few years later - and let's not even get started on Patrick Holt's attempt to sound French), it makes hardly any sense, and describing it as a thriller is actually a massive cheat. Lee might be a disturbed murderer, but aside from losing his rag a bit with a waiter and being a dick with several other people a la Franklyn Marsh, he doesn't actually do anything hugely unpleasant before voluntarily wandering into Knox's office and pretty straightforwardly revealing everything; certainly there's no indication that St. John is ever in any physical danger from him - he never even raises his voice to her. Even the final twist falls flat because though it was presumably meant to have some kind of Outer Limits-style ambiguity to it, it just seems badly scripted and inexplicable. Also, the YouTube version I watched was in terrible shape; very blurry and crackly, it looked and sounded like someone had spent decades using the reels for makeshift dustpans in the basement of the BFI, and I'm not sure if a better print is even available these days.

Horror fans may want to check this out because Lee is of course worth watching in one of his earliest starring roles, trying hard to be a compelling on-screen presence even though you can see the film draining in the life out of him with each subsequent scene. Quatermass 2's Lomax, John Longden, gives easily the best performance as St. John's father, but as he's surrounded by almost complete ineptitude on every side that isn't saying much.

John Preston arrives in the fictional small town of Deanbridge and begins to rise financially and socially and eventually gets engaged to the local banker's daughter. Everything is going well until he starts to have dreams about murder. A newly arrived psychiatrist Dr. Peter Walton gets involved with his nightmares. A low budget quota film that proceeds along without creating much excitement or thrills.

In a starring role Christopher Lee is unfortunately saddled with an odd accent which diminishes his effectiveness somewhat but does look appropriately confident or haunted when necessary. Dr. Walton is played well by Alexander Knox but he only appears later on in the film which is a shame as the few scenes between Lee and Knox are the best in the film. The rest of the cast pale in comparison to Lee and Knox.

Bearable but rather on the slow side.

This is a strange but nonetheless entertaining film starring a pre Dracula Christopher Lee with a truly terrible mid Atlantic accent.This is matched only by a lame attempt at such an accent by Peter Grant in his sole film appearance.There is a scene in a box at a concert where Lee turns to his girlfriend and bares his teeth in a smile,where i thought surely he cant be about to bite her neck.The film becomes extremely strange with the appearance of Alexander Knox as the psychoanalyst.Lee relates to him his nightmares.At the end we learn that these are not nightmares but they are actual events.Incidentally i believe the 2 exterior shots are of Church Walk Hampstead and Kilburn High Road.it looks like the Gaumont State in the background.