The Snorkel (1958)

Written by CinemaSerf on March 25, 2023

Right from the outset, we know what has happened to "Mrs. Dexter". We see the clever method by which she is gassed to death - but there is something a little bit ingenious about the fashion in which her husband "Paul" (Peter van Eyck) executes, quite literally, his wife. The police arrive, and finding the room locked and taped up assume quite naturally that she has taken her own life. Her daughter "Candy" (Mandy Miller) isn't buying it. For years she has been claiming that she saw him (her stepfather) kill her real father whilst boating, and now she is determined to get to the bottom of it all. What ensues isn't actually very good, nor is the rather underwhelming acting - but the last fifteen minutes presents us with a lovely sense of divine retribution that I thought salvaged the mediocrity of the rest of it rather well. It's a bit long, and way too wordy - but just stick around for the end and ask yourself what might you have done?