Pink String And Sealing Wax

2646. PINK STRING and SEALING WAX (1945-England). With MERVYN JOHNS, GOOGIE WITHERS, GORDON JACKSON, SALLY ANN HOWES. Stuffy Edward Sutton is an expert chemist who rules his family with an iron hand. “Love and fear are inseparable,” is his rationalization for playing drill sergeant to his children’s obedient raw recruits. In particular, Sutton discourages daughter Victoria’s desire to become a professional singer and chastises son David’s dreamy idealism and romanticism. Young David innocently becomes enamored of Pearl Bond, the lusty and scheming wife of a harsh pub proprietor. She in turn concocts a foolproof scheme to do away with her constantly inebriated ball-and-chain. It is a plan that, as you will see, is destined to involve Edward Sutton and place him in a potentially uncompromising position. This drama of desire, repression and murder is entertaining and extremely well-turned. The orderly and rigid world of Edward Sutton is nicely contrasted to the slovenly characters who inhabit the Bond pub, where overindulgence and gossip are the rule. The film also serves as an affecting tale of the manner in which children are stifled when their foolishly misguided parents are insensitive to their feelings and dreams. The acting is uniformly superb, with special kudos to Mervyn Johns (who makes Edward Sutton a quietly chilling character) and Googie Withers (who makes Pearl Bond a formidable villainess). 89 minutes. Crime Mystery Suspense