Portrait Of Alison (1955)

When his journalist brother is killed in an auto accident (along with a female passenger) in Italy, a commercial artist (Robert Beatty) is questioned by the police about a mysterious postcard his brother mailed before he was killed but he knows nothing about it. Shortly after, the father (Henry Oscar) of the female passenger in the car asks him to paint a portrait of the girl (Terry Moore) from her photograph. But when a model (Josephine Griffin) is found murdered in his apartment, the artist becomes the prime suspect and the auto crash seems less likely to have been an accident. This British crime drama is rather overly complicated but that might be explained by the fact that it's based on a six part television series squeezed into a 90 minute running time. It's a respectable effort, however. Directed by Guy Green (A PATCH OF BLUE), it's nicely ambient (with a steal from Preminger's LAURA) and mystery buffs should have a nice time with it. The cinematography is by Wilkie Cooper (7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD). Retitled POSTMARK FOR DANGER for its American release. With William Sylvester, Geoffrey Keen and Allan Cuthbertson.