Bob Newton (Peter Grant) and Sally Sandford (Betta St. John) live in the quaint little town of Deanbridge. They have been friends since childhood. Bob works for the local bank, plays in the local golf tournament and is in love with Sally. Sally, on the other hand, is fond of Bob but not in love with him.
John Preston (Christopher Lee) is a wealthy man. He moves to Deanbridge and begins investing in local real estate. He brings needed cash to the local hospital and joins several boards of directors, including the hospital board. Soon he becomes a valued and prosperous member of the Deanbridge populace.
Preston meets and falls in love with Sally. Sally becomes fascinated with the newest member of Deanbridge society and returns his affection. After some time, Preston and Sally become engaged. Bob is not happy about the situation and believes there is something off about the quite stranger but has no say in it.
One of the improvements the hospital board does is to hire a part time consulting psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Preston doesn’t believe in “Freudian mumbo-jumbo”. The board, against Preston’s objections, hires Dr. Peter Walton (Alexander Knox).
Eventually Preston starts having unusual dreams that seem to repeat. In his dream he kills a woman named Sylvia (Sandra Dorne). Sylvia was a woman from his past that he had an affair with who now plans on blackmailing him. Then, a man shows up who claims to be Sylvia’s husband (Patrick Holt). He helps Preston bury Sylvia in the garden of a house he bought for his future wife, Sally. The man then quietly leaves. Preston begins talking to Dr. Walton about his dreams. Eventually, Walton discovers secrets that Preston didn’t even know he possessed.
“Alias John Preston” was released in 1955 and was directed by David MacDonald. It is a British thriller and a quota quickie. I’ve seen it advertised as a horror film, but it’s more of a psychological melodrama than anything else.
It sort of plays like a really old soap opera and is a little on the stagey side, which is normally not all bad but in this case it has a tendency to drone on from time to time. I get what they were trying to do with the trick ending and trying to keep suspense up until the big reveal, but they didn’t do a good job at keeping my attention up until then.
Although I love Christopher Lee, in this he’s usually either wooden or slightly over the top in this instance. It may have to do with the poor quality of the script. The acting in general is decent but the actors don’t have a lot to work with.
It’s an OK movie and an interesting look at early Christopher Lee. Fans of his work may find it worthy of note.