The Upturned Glass. 1947. Great Britain. Directed by Lawrence Huntington. 90 min.
Screenplay by John Monaghan, Pamela Kellino. With James Mason, Kellino, Rosamund John, Ann Stephens. A stylish, little-seen example of the many films noirs produced in the U.K. after the war, The Upturned Glass was James Mason’s last British film before his departure for Hollywood. Based on a screenplay cowritten by Mason’s costar and future wife, Pamela Kellino, the film is a morbid melodrama centered on a Harley Street brain surgeon (Mason), a married woman with a dying child (Rosamund John), and her psychotically jealous sister (Kellino). The faux-woodcut style of the poster appropriately suggests a rip-roaring Victorian drama. Digital projection.