The House Across the Lake [Heat Wave] *** (1954, Alex Nicol, Hillary Brooke, Sidney James) – Classic Movie Review 9193

Writer-director Ken Hughes’s 1954 British Hammer Films black and white film noir triangle suspense crime drama The House Across the Lake [Heat Wave] is filmed and set in England, and stars Alex Nicol and Hillary Brooke and Sid James [Sidney James] in a prominent supporting role in which he is, unusually, the good guy.

Nicol plays American pulp novelist Mark Kendrick living in a cottage in the Lake District in England, trying to write. On night, he gets a call from and meets his rich English neighbours across the lake and is soon seduced by bored beautiful blonde Carol Forrest (Brooke), the flirtatious femme fatale wife of rich Beverly Forrest (James). After Beverly is badly injured by a fall on his boat, Carol tries to persuade Mark to throw him overboard. But Mark refuses and Carol does it instead and plots with him to call it an accident to the police.

Alan Wheatley, also unusually a good guy here, plays snooping CID Inspector MacLennan, who lets Mark discover Carol has now secretly married her old flame pianist Vincent Gordon (Paul Carpenter) and moved home.

The House Across the Lake [Heat Wave] is an entertaining noir in the American style, neatly acted, especially by Hillary Brooke, mastering a posh English accent typical of the era, and decently written and plotted by Hughes in its sub-James M Cain way. The English character actors are strong and characterful, balancing the much more tepid turn by Nicol, though admittedly his role is perhaps the least interesting in the movie.

Nicol and Brooke are the only Americans in the cast, though Paul Carpenter is Canadian and often played Americans, and Brooke often plays British, as she does here. Sid James, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as Solomon Joel Cohen, also often played Americans in his early days in British movies, before he became the archetypal cockney.

The cast are Alex Nicol as Mark Kendrick, Hillary Brooke as Carol Forrest, Sid James as Beverly Forrest, Susan Stephen as Andrea Forrest, Paul Carpenter as Vincent Gordon, Alan Wheatley as Inspector MacLennan, Peter Illing as Harry Stevens, Gordon McLeod as Doctor Emery, Joan Hickson as Mrs Hardcastle, John Sharp as Mr Hardcastle, Hugh Dempster as Frank, Howard Lang as Inspector Edgar and Monti DeLyle [Monti de Lyle] as Head Waiter.

The House Across the Lake is quite a boring title, so it is no wonder the Americans changed it to Heat Wave for its release there.

The House Across the Lake [Heat Wave] is directed by Ken Hughes, runs 68 minutes, is made by Hammer Films, is released by Exclusive Films (UK) and Lippert Pictures (US), is written by Ken Hughes, based on the novel by Ken Hughes, is shot in black and white by Walter J. Harvey, is produced by Anthony Hinds, and is scored by Ivor Slaney, with Art Direction by J Elder Wills.

It was shot at Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK.

There are signs of sharp editing for the 68 minutes, as the roles of well-known John Sharp, Joan Hickson and Monti DeLyle may have been pared down, and the ending wraps up very suddenly with some loose ends.

Although the film is set in the English Lake District, Carol drives a left-hand drive car on the right-hand side of the road.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9193

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