i remember see this film some forty year ago . i be still at school and find it curiously absorb . in fact i couldnot stop tell everybody about it for day afterwards . i recall the film create an atmosphere at once dark and forebode . there be an understated menace in the air much a in the opening page of a story by h. p. lovecraft . the plot be relatively straight forward but with a delicious twist at the end that have be liken to a tale by o. henry . what carry the film be the sublime performance of herbert lom . now there be an actor who play the archetypal smooth villain of his day . in fact i can not think of any other actor who so consummately conveyed villainy with such effective european sophistication and grace . a role portray to perfection in the ringer with donald wolfit and the golden salamander and later and northwest passage with kenny more and lauren bacall . shade of conrad veidt of an early generation . herbert lom be a busy actor who appear in numerous film and theatre production during the fifty and sixty . few will remember that he take the lead role when the king and i first come to london at drury lane ( i think ) and that he be the natural choice for the harry lime role in the radio version of the third man ( circa and 1951 ) . his brood european look and deep and accented speech be instantly recognise by the audience of his day and although never a major top of the bill star and be a respected member of any cast ( e. g. and with herbert lom a napoleon ) and by today standard would be consider an a list celebrity .