THE SPANIARD'S CURSE

Lee Patterson and Susan Beaumont

THE SPANIARD'S CURSE (1958). Director: Ralph Kemplen. 

Guy Stevenson (Basil Dignam) is sentenced to death in a British court after being convicted of murdering an aging party girl. Stevenson mentions something about "Assize of the Dying," which turns out to be a curse on those who passed judgment on him. Margaret (Susan Beaumont), the ward of the sentencing judge, Manton (Michael Hordern), is not so sure of Stevenson's guilt, and neither is Mark (Lee Patterson), the half-brother of the victim. With the help of Manton's son, a reporter named Charles (Tony Wright), Margaret and Mark try to uncover the truth. Stevenson dies of a heart attack, and the jury foreman is run over in the street ... Is the curse beginning to work? 

Michael Hordern and Tony Wright

The Spaniard's Curse is more a work of irony than it is of the supernatural. I was surprised that it wasn't based on a play because at times it seems very talky and stage bound. There is, however, a creepy scene in a cemetery at night, and the film does work up some minor suspense at the very end. The identity of the killer will probably not come as much of a surprise, but it leads to an interesting, dramatic and affecting climax. Patterson, a Canadian-born actor who appeared on Surfside 6 and who also did several British films, is okay as Mark, and Beaumont makes an appealing heroine. Wright just sort of walks through the movie, but Horden is excellent and easily out-acts everyone else, although there are some on-the-money supporting performances. 

Verdict: Minor but somewhat entertaining British suspense film with fine work from Hordern. **1/2.