A 23 pasos de Baker Street (H. Hathaway)

Una película que se podría englobar en el género de cine negro: un escritor ciego oye de pasada una conversación en un pub londinense en el que se cuenta una trama para hacer algo ilícito. Con la ayuda de su ex-prometida (que él rechazó al quedarse ciego y que sigue enamorada de él) y un fiel mayordomo intenta descubrir qué hay detrás de esa conversación, ya que la policía no le cree. La trama es más bien floja, pero se ve con interés.

El protagonista es Van Johnson (junto con Vera Miles y Cecil Parker).

Curiosidades de IMDB

The balcony scenes that look over the river Thames are from the Savoy Hotel in 1956. The Thames was declared dead (extremely polluted) the following year, 1957. It has taken many years to clean up but now the once brown smelly river can support life and is home to several species of fish.

The curious title (a clear allusion to Sherlock Holmes) is only referenced once, when Phil helps a lost, bespectacled man find his way in the fog.

Es casi un MacGuffin, quizá una treta para darle mayor interés comercial, ya que solo se menciona de pasada y no tiene nada que ver con la trama.

The film maximised 20th Century-Fox's "frozen funds" - money earned in England by the studio which, by law, could only be spent there. Hence, the extensive location footage is genuinely shot in London, whilst the interiors are all Los Angeles-based.

No conocía esta situación de los "frozen funds". Recuerda a las intervenciones venezolanas sobre las compañías multinacionales. Más sobre este tema: World War II brought concern for British currency leaving the country. The film industry especially drained Britain of its precious sterling. British demand for American films, once again, grew from the need for escapism from the reality of blackouts and food shortages.As before, American films stepped up to fill this need and the British government stepped in to stop American profits from leaving the British Isles. In order to use the profits gained in Britain, movie producers would have to spend it in Britain. This eventually led to a shift of production costs from Hollywood to London in order to use the frozen funds. Independent American producers began making films in Britain and hiring local workers. This put income back into the British economy. Like before, joint Anglo-American film efforts helped to revive the British film industry. This time, new British productions were no longer cheap “quota quickies,” the products of poor quality amateur British film producers. Now, British films appealed to the American market as high quality foreign products that had a legacy of experience dating back to the beginning of the film industry. Hitchcock and many other famous British figures became leaders in Hollywood film productions. The new future of post-war British films had a foundation of unique stylistic approaches, distinctively British themes, and past leadership that believed in Britain’s greatness.

Bob arrives home wet. Hannon say 'you're wet, I can smell that tweed suit from here'. The joke being that tweed, when wet, exudes the smell of urine used in the manufacturing process.

The final scene, in which the blind playwright extinguishes every light in his apartment, was replicated in the 1967 Audrey Hepburn thriller (in which Hepburn's character was also blind) Sola en la oscuridad (1967).

Cuando vi la escena no pude evitar pensar en la otra película.