Such a frustrating disappointment

As Good As It Gets

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

CLOUDBURST is one of the low budget thrillers that Hammer Films made in the 1950s before they became known for their horror efforts. It's also their first film shot at Bray Studios. The film is less focused on plot than most 1950s-era crime films and more interested in characterisation, with a real depth to the protagonists here. The unknown-to-me Robert Preston plays a codebreaker working in the post-war era who is expecting a baby with his wife Elizabeth Sellars (a real stalwart of the genre during this era). When sh'es run down and killed in the road by a murderous couple, he decides to exact his own brand of revenge, one which takes place outside of the law. The film is low budget in scope and feel, and Francis Searle's direction is merely pedestrian, but the script really sparkles and offers intriguing insight into the mindsets of those involved. Preston is excellent and the strong supporting cast includes dependables like Colin Tapley, George Woodbridge, and Noel Howlett.

As I recently watched a very good making of on the DVD for the fun Hammer Horror title The Mummy's Shroud,I was shocked to discover that actress Elizabeth Sellars holds the honour of starring in the last movie that Hammer filmed at Bray studios, (Shroud) and the first film that Hammer shot at the studio,which appeared to be a completely forgotten Film Noir. Mentioning the movie on IMDb,I was happily caught by surprise,when a very kind IMDb'er gave me the chance to take a look at the title,which led to me looking up at the sky,so that I could at last see the cloud burst.The plot:1946-Haunted by their memories of getting tortured by the Nazis, John and Carol Graham attempt to numb their pain by working as code breakers for the British government,whilst also saving up for a beautiful plot of land,which they can call their own.Attempting to find an enchanting route in their lives,Carol gives John the news that she is pregnant,which leads to John beginning to plan the family life which he has always desired.Visiting their future plot of land as they start to look forward to becoming a family,a car suddenly speeds past and runs over Carol,Gripping onto the car,John is able to catch a glimpse of the man and woman inside the car,before he is knocked out.Woken up by a police officer,John discovers that the car has killed Carol and their unborn child.Feeling his entire world breaking apart,John keeps the description of the man and the woman in the car close to his chest,as the officer attempts to interview him.Patiently waiting until the officer has disappeared from view,John begins to make plans on how he can track down Carol's killer's,so that he can show them the life that they have burst.View on the film:For the first half of the movie,writer's Leo Marks and Francis Searle smartly keep away from jumping 'straight to the action' by instead allowing the relationship between John and Carol to blossom across the screen,with the couple's dream patch of land giving the title a hauntingly melancholy mood.Wrapping the ghosts from the torture delivered by the Nazis with the soul-destroying death of Carol tightly around John,the writer's cast an unflinchingly brutal Film Noir backdrop,with John being unable to escape from his deadly survival instincts of the past,as he begins to step into a decaying gutter,on the search for Carol and their (unborn) child killer's.Perfectly expressing the melancholy and furious grief contained in the screenplay,director Francis Searle gives Carol and John's romance a sleek Gothic hue,with the low-lit lighting used for the couple taking a peak at their plot of land,showing the dream which they imagine,whilst also subtly hinting at the darkness which lays ahead for them.Sending John out into the Film Noir world,Searle brilliantly uses real cramp houses as locations to show how the pain & fury inside of John is consuming him,with Searle also giving the movie a harsh,gritty appearance,as John casts his first strikes of revenge.Despite featuring in only half of the movie, Elizabeth Sellars gives a tremendous shadow which cast a long shadow across the entire film,thanks to Sellars giving Carol a real sincerity in her hopes that she and John will be able to leave their Nazi horror behind.Frantically using all of his past skills as he searches for the driver & the passenger of the car, Robert Preston gives an excellent performance as John,with Preston showing John's soft eyes gradually transform into an unforgiving fire,as John sees the silver lining on his cloud burst.

Poss Spoiler - This post-war-time black & white film from England stars Robert Preston (from films Music Man, Beau Geste) as Robert Graham, a married, WW II veteran. Placed in England in 1946, Cloudburst co-stars Elizabeth Sellars, Colin Tapley, Harold Lang, and Lyn Evans. We are shown right at the beginning that he speaks Japanese, French, Spanish, & Italian, and works in the secret Codes/Decryption office in England. All is well until a couple in a car kills someone close to him during a hit and run, then drives off. Determined to get revenge, he goes in search of them, and the chase is on. There WAS a British film also titled "Cloudburst" from 1922, but IMDb and Wikipedia have almost no information on that one. This 1951 film was from the play by Leo Marks, who really did work in the Coding/Encryption office during WW II. Screenplay and direction by Francis Searle. Interesting dilemma near the end, where two suspects who really ARE guilty of separates crimes deny knowing each other, to avoid prosecution. Will justice be done? The ending can be guessed, if one thinks about it, (but they didn't...) Entertaining story, no giant plot-holes. Also quite good quality sound and lighting, which wasn't always prevalent in British films back then.

I read the other two "reviews" here - the first written by someone who seems to have seen a different film than the one actually in front of his eyes, and the other by someone who doesn't really get one of the major plot points. But, this is the IMDb so what else is new.I'd never seen or heard of Cloudburst prior to the recent showing on TCM. It's quite a good little film - well directed by Searle, whose work I don't know at all, with a top-notch score by Frank Spencer, a composer I also don't know. Preston is very good, as are the rest of the players, especially the actor who plays the Inspector. The storytelling is compelling, and there's a surprising complexity in Preston's character. Leo Marks, from whose play this was taken, was a fascinating writer and person - as one of the others points out, he really did work as a decoder during the war - and this isn't the only film he wrote where the central character is a decoder - he also wrote Sebastian, in which Dirk Bogarde plays a decoder. And, of course, Marks gave us the brilliant script to Michael Powell's Peeping Tom.Worth catching if you can find it.