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Venetian Bird

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Venetian Bird
Directed byRalph Thomas
Written byVictor Canning
Based onVenetian Bird
by Victor Canning
Produced byBetty Box
Earl St. John
StarringRichard Todd
Eva Bartok
John Gregson
CinematographyErnest Steward
Edited byGerald Thomas
Music byNino Rota
Production
company
British Film-Makers
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release date
  • 3 November 1952 (1952-11-03)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£80,000[1]

Venetian Bird (U.S. title The Assassin) is a 1952 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Richard Todd, Eva Bartok and John Gregson.[2] The screenplay was adapted by Victor Canning from his 1950 novel of the same title. It was released in America by United Artists.

Plot

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British private detective Edward Mercer is employed to travel to Venice and locate an Italian who is to be rewarded for his assistance to an Allied airman during the Second World War. Once he arrives in Italy, however, he becomes mixed up in an assassination plot enveloped in a great deal of mystery. Central to it is whether Renzo Uccello actually died a few years earlier in World War II or not.

Cast

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Production

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Michael Balcon initially rejected the idea of a film based on Canning's novel because it was set in Italy and dealt with Italians, not Britons. Betty Box appealed to Earl St John, who overruled Balcon. Italian censors required that the script clarify the political struggles in post-war Venice that were portrayed in the novel.[3]

Richard Todd was borrowed from Associated British who had the actor under contract. He says Gina Lollobrigida wanted to make the movie but her English was not then good enough.[4] He recalled "I had enjoyed working on it, particularly with the exuberant Ralph Thomas as director. He was always ready to see the funny side of things."[5]

It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location in Venice. The film's sets were designed by the art director George Provis.

Box and Thomas decided not to use colour shooting the film as they felt that it would not suit the genre.[6]

Reception

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The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Victor Canning has adapted the screenplay from his novel of the same name. He follows his original closely, and the result is a thriller which in approach derives something from The Third Man. But in approach only; the plot, and the handling of it, is mostly confused and heayy-going. The photography of the piazze and streets of Venice is quite striking, and alternates effectively with indoor scenes, ranging from a gallery of wax figures in costume to a highly mechanised glass works. At times, however, there is a tendency to clear the stage of all but the principals and to assume that the population remains impervious to the noise of fighting. Eva Bartok makes of her part a little more than just the normal go-between of crime fiction, while John Gregson is a sly but attractive scoundrel, Richard Todd, however, only partly succeeds in combining his role of self-effacing private detective with that of a spectacular hero."[7]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Colourful and unusual romantic crime melodrama, actually staged in post-war Venice. ... The plot is not too easy to follow, but the types are interesting and sinister atmosphere is cleverly conveyed through brilliant camera work. Very good thriller, particularly for the 'upper crust.' ... The picture spares no expense to create realism, but the use of foreign tongues occasionally complicates story development. Its highspots, staged on a canal and in a glass factory and a museum, are, however, artfully spaced and keep its bizarre surface action reasonably taut. Richard Todd lacks essential dash as Mercer, but Eva Bartok makes a compelling and striking Adriana."[8]

Picturegoer wrote: "Here is a confused and none-too-credible conversation piece, with colourful backgrounds, but commonplace plot. And the disappointment is not only in the structure of the picture. Even in the few chances that come his way, Todd acts in a stilted, emotionally limited way.  ... Eva Bartok, as the 'hero's' wife, acts gracefully."[9]

In The Radio Times Guide to Films David Parkinson gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Borrowing liberally from The Third Man, this is a tolerable time-passer, although a little lightweight in the suspense department. Director Ralph Thomas offers some pretty postcard views of Venice, but he only fully exploits his fascinating location during the ingenious final chase sequence, which culminates in a Hitchcockian use of a famous landmark. Richard Todd is below par as the detective."[10]

References

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  1. ^ BFI Collections: Michael Balcon Papers H3 reprinted in British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p 41
  2. ^ "Venetian Bird". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  3. ^ British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter Oxford University Press, 2003 p 38
  4. ^ Todd, Richard (1989). In camera : an autobiography continued. Hutchinson. p. 10.
  5. ^ Todd p 11
  6. ^ HOWARD THOMPSON (14 September 1952). "BY WAY OF REPORT: Box -- Thomas Activities -- Cinema 16 Plans --". New York Times. p. X5.
  7. ^ "Venetian Bird". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 19 (216): 159. 1 January 1952. ProQuest 1305813449.
  8. ^ "Venetian Bird". Kine Weekly. 2361 (426): 18. 25 September 1952. ProQuest 2826312409.
  9. ^ "Venetian Bird". Picturegoer. 24: 19. 1 October 1952. ProQuest 1705168046.
  10. ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 987. ISBN 9780992936440.
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