Dangerous Knowledge (1976/from Armchair
Thriller series/VCI DVD)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: C+
Another set of episodes taken out of the hit TV show Armchair Thriller (which we have
reviewed elsewhere on this site, Dangerous
Knowledge (1976) is a six hour-long episode tale that wants to combine
Hitchcock and Cold War spy stories as an insurance man named Kirby (Armchair Thriller regular John Gregson
in his final work before his death) who is being followed for reasons he does
not understand, but knows how to get away and this comes with the help of a
beautiful young woman named Laura (Prunella Ransome of Van der Valk, The Persuaders,
The Adventurer), but why is she so
willing to help?
N.J. Crisp (Spy Trap) wrote this decent thriller with some
good moments and the only problem is that modern viewers will have to
understand and project The Cold War into this to figure it all out, but it is
ambitious and not bad to revisit. The
directing by Alan Gibson (Goodbye Gemini,
Dracula A.D. 1972, Count Dracula & His Vampire Bride, Brian Clemens’ Thriller, Raffles (1977), Roald Dahl’s Tales Of The Unexpected) is ultimately the reason
these shows hold up. At his best, he is
a solid journeyman filmmaker and that helps here too.
Ralph Bates (Moonbase
3), Patrick Allen (Hitchcock’s Dial
‘M’ For Murder) and Robert Keegan (Hitchcock’s Frenzy) are among the supporting cast that also keeps things moving
and keeps you guessing. Fans of this
kind of fiction will find this worth a look.
The oddly
letterboxed 1.66 X 1 image was originally produced on 16mm film for outdoor
shots and analog PAL video for the rest of the shoot and intended for 1.33 TV
presentation, but this is cut the way it is for whatever reason (tape damage?),
but the results are not so cinematic as we get some detail and color limits
from the PAL taping and soft throughout, with the analog videotape flaws
including video noise, video banding, telecine flicker, tape scratching, PAL
cross color, faded color and tape damage.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also a few generations down and sounds
aged. Be careful of playback levels and
volume switching. There are no extras,
though it would have been nice if we learned more about the production.
- Nicholas Sheffo
