The Clouded Yellow (1950)

Love is like a butterfly, as soft and gentle as a sigh.

The Clouded Yellow is directed by Ralph Thomas and written by Eric Ambler and Janet Green. It stars Trevor Howard, Jean Simmons, Sonia Dresdel, Barry Jones, Kenneth More and Geoffrey Keen.

Taut British spy thriller with Hitchcockian flavours, The Clouded Yellow finds David Somers (Howard) as an ex-secret service operative working as a butterfly cataloguer who finds himself neck deep in a murder plot. Set in the North of England, with some good locations to be spotted by the keen of English eye, the story revolves around the murderous goings on at the stately home where Somers now works. With Sophie Mairaux (Simmons) the chief suspect, Somers comes to believe she is innocent and sets about proving so.

It follows a reliable formula, where the set-up introduces the main players, the hero in waiting takes it upon himself to use his skills to prove he’s right, which builds to an odd couple on the lam final quarter of film. The strength is in the characterisations, particularly Somers with his past hanging heavy on his mind, and Mairaux and her current predicaments which involve her being surrounded by vile people. Thomas directs assuredly, mixing the drama with humour and affection, and the suspense and mystery elements are maintained up until the dramatic conclusion. Cast are suitably in good tune with the material, with Howard and Simmons making a compelling and complex coupling. 7/10

Ralph Thomas has assembled a superior cast for this intriguing thriller. MI6 agent Trevor Howard ("Somers") returns from a mission to find he has outlived his usefulness and is to be put out to grass, He finds work at a remote country house were he is to help the ostensibly eccentric owner "Fenton" (Barry Jones) with his butterfly collection. On his way to the house, he gives a lift to their rather course young gamekeeper "Hick" (Maxwell Reed) before meeting the family and their enigmatic niece "Sophie" (Jean Simmons). She, like the butterflies, is a gentle creature and slowly he begins to gain her confidence. It all gets shaken up when we discover the corpse of the odious "Hick" and with her fairly in the frame for the crime, the two abscond. Using his considerable skills, they hope to evade his pursuing former colleague "Shepley" (Kenneth More), and the true perpetrator. What follows in quite an enjoyable cat and mouse chase featuring a distinctly dodgy looking helicopter and some lovely photography of the North of England thrown in too. Though clearly the plot would have us believe the two are falling in love, neither lead performance is particularly magnetic nor convincing at demonstrating that - chemistry there isn't. André Morell, Sonia Dresdel and Geoffrey Keen help keep it moving along well, though - and there's quite an engaging little cameo from Richard Wattis as the job centre man towards the start. Maybe not the most suspenseful film you'll ever watch, but there are a few twists and turns and the conclusion is well enough concealed to keep us guessing til the end.