Movie Review: The Snorkel (1958) directed by Guy Green
Paul Decker (Peter van Eyck) has gotten away with murder before. Years ago, he murdered his wealthy friend Mr. Brown by drowning him in a boating “accident” so that he could marry the widow and her considerable inheritance, including an Italian villa near the French border. Now Mrs. Decker has outlived her attractiveness and usefulness to Paul. He comes up with a brilliant plan to commit the perfect crime, using the device mentioned in the title.
At first it’s working a treat. Both the local police inspector (Gregoire Aslan) and British consul Wilson (William Franklyn) see that there’s no possible way Mrs. Decker’s death could be anything but a suicide. Soon, however, there’s a bit of a hitch. Paul’s stepdaughter Candace “Candy” Brown (Mandy Miller) arrives from her boarding school in England earlier than expected (by Paul), accompanied by her governess Jean Edwards (Betta St. John) and dog Toto (Flush). Candy isn’t buying the suicide verdict for a moment–her mother was expecting her, had no reason to take her own life, and there’s no note or letter as you’d normally expect from such a carefully planned suicide. Plus, she witnessed Paul killing her father as a little girl, and although no one has ever believed her, she’s never trusted the man since. Toto almost gives away Paul’s hiding place, but unlike his The Wizard of Oz namesake, no one pays attention to his antics.
What little credence the authorities give to Candy’s testimony is dispelled when it turns out that Paul was in France the whole time, giving him an unbreakable alibi. Not deterred by this setback, the teenager continues snooping and asking questions, picking at the edges of Paul’s elaborate plan. There’s no help for it, Paul will have to shut her up permanently!
This thriller came from Hammer Films a few years before they struck on their horror formula and is a clear precursor to those movies. There’s excellent camerawork and the opening scene is especially well done. It’s a silly and overelaborate way to commit murder, but that’s what makes it intriguing. The middle part is less inventive, but it leads to a mostly satisfying ending.
Van Eyck does a good job as the cold-blooded killer. Mr. Decker is a writer of novels, but apparently not a very successful one as it’s established early on he doesn’t have his own money and didn’t like his wife spending hers for herself. He’s also probably not a mystery writer or someone would have noted an ability to think up locked room murders. He’s superficially charming, which has taken in everyone but Candy. The plot requires Paul to demonstrate strong swimming skills a couple of times, something the casting director forgot to mention to the actor.
Candy is afflicted with Cassandra levels of no one ever believing her when she states the truth. Her dog dies abruptly after Paul was the last person seen with it? Clearly a total coincidence! Paul tries to murder her in exactly the same way as her mother? She was clearly trying to commit suicide herself! She’s threatened with the loony bin if she doesn’t stop making these wild accusations.
It’s played relatively subtly, but I suspect Jean is sweet on her employer, which contributes to her ignoring clear warning signs and not taking simple precautions like never leaving Candy alone with Mr. Decker, despite knowing what the girl thinks of her stepfather. Wilson’s failure to catch on is a bit more excusable as he doesn’t know the family well and isn’t trained in detective work or how to deal with teenagers.
Content note: Murder, attempted murder, death of a dog. Candy is throughout the film treated as delusional even though she’s absolutely correct about what’s going on.
This isn’t one of the true masterpieces of suspense cinema, but it’s good enough that you won’t regret seeing it. Recommended to old-style thriller fans.
