''The House Across the Lake'' is a 1954 British

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Ken Hughes Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

and starring

Alex Nicol Alexander Livingston Nicol Jr. (January 20, 1916 – July 29, 2001) was an American actor and film director. Nicol appeared in many Westerns including ''The Man from Laramie'' (1955). He appeared in more than forty feature films as well as dire ...

Hillary Brooke Hillary Brooke (born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson; September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was an American film actress. Career A 5′6″ blonde from the Astoria neighborhood of New York City's borough of Queens, Brooke, who was of Swedish an ...

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mid ...

and

Susan Stephen Susan Rennie Stephen (16 July 1931 – 21 April 2000) was an English film actress. Born in London, she was known in the 1950s for appearing in a number of B-films. She appeared in over 20 films including ''The Red Beret'' (1953), '' The Hou ...

. A

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

it was produced as a

second feature A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

and shot at the company's

Bray Studios Bray Productions was a pioneering American animation studio that produced several popular cartoons during the years of World War I and the early interwar era, becoming a springboard for several key animators of the 20th century, including the ...

. It was released in the United States by

Lippert Pictures Lippert Pictures was an American film production and distribution company controlled by Robert L. Lippert. History Robert L. Lippert (1909-1976) was a successful exhibitor, owning a chain of movie theaters in California and Oregon. He was frustrat ...

under the title ''Heat Wave''.

Plot

An American

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material * ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, Mark Kendrick (Nicol), meets his rich neighbours across the lake and is soon seduced by beautiful blonde Carol (Brooke), the wife of Beverly Forrest (James), despite Beverly treating him as a friend. When Beverly is badly injured by a fall on his boat, Carol fails to persuade Mark to throw him overboard, so Carol does it. After first refusing to go along with her plan to call it an accident, Mark agrees when Carol tells him that they will meet up again later and live off her dead husband's money. However, after the coroner rules the death an accident, Mark does not hear from her, but the still suspicious CID inspector on the case arranges for Mark to find out that Carol has secretly married another old flame and changed residences. Mark angrily confronts her, but she sneers that she only used him and that there is nothing he can do about it without implicating himself. Mark decides to confess, thinking that, although it will probably mean a prison sentence for him, it will mean

the rope ''The Rope'' (french: La Corde) is a French thriller miniseries created by Dominique Rocher, and Éric Forestier. The story follows a group of scientists at a remote Norwegian ground station who find a mysterious rope nearby in the woods. Plo ...

for Carol.

Cast

as Mark Kendrick *

as Carol Forrest *

as Beverly Forrest *

as Andrea Forrest * Paul Carpenter as Vincent Gordon *

Alan Wheatley Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the ...

as Inspector MacLennan *

Peter Illing Peter Illing (4 March 1899 – 29 October 1966) was an Austrian-born British film and television actor. Selected TV series * ''Deadline Midnight'' (1961) as Captain Dnieprovsky * ''The Saint'' (1962) as Inspector Buono Filmography * ''The Silv ...

as Harry Stevens * Gordon McLeod as Doctor Emery *

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series ''Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number ...

as Mrs. Hardcastle * John Sharp as Mr. Hardcastle *

Hugh Dempster Hugh Dempster (3 August 1900 – 30 April 1987) was a British theatre and film actor. Born in London, Dempster made his stage debut in 1920, and began his screen career in the silent film era. His credits included ''Vice Versa'', ''Anna Karenin ...

as Frank * Monti DeLyle as Head Waiter

Production

The film was based on a novel by Ken Hughes, ''High Wray'', published in 1952. It was filmed at Bray Studios. Nicol and Brooke were the only Americans in the cast, although Brooke played a British character, as she did in most films. (Her mastery of a "posh" accent caused her to be typecast as British in Hollywood films starting in the 1940s.) Filming occurred at

in Berkshire.

Reception

According to an obituary of Ken Hughes, "The film was praised by critics, and began Hughes's ascent into more important productions. "OBITUARY: Ken Hughes: OREIGN EditionVallance, Tom. The Independent 1 May 2001: 6. ''Filmink'' said "It’s quite a fun movie, reminiscent of '' The Postman Always Rings Twice''; one is inclined to wonder if Nicol’s character, a writer under the pump and distracted by lust, was a Hughes self-portrait."

References

Bibliography