SHE PLAYED WITH FIRE is a fine British crime thriller with less emphasis on plot and more emphasis on atmosphere than usual for this genre. The dependable Jack Hawkins plays an insurance investigator looking into a mysterious fire, only to end up coming face to face with a woman from his past. He gradually gets drawn into a murkier and murkier plot involving blackmail, arson, and murder, and the story keeps you involved from that point. Hawkins is a fine presence in 1950s cinema and he's very effective here, his presence bolstered by some well-chosen supporting actors including Dennis Price, Geoffrey Keen, Bernard Miles, Patrick Holt and a briefly-spotted Christopher Lee.

The esteemed British writing-producing-directing team of Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder seemed to divide their work between stylish thrillers and broad comedies – though not always each member of the unit would be responsible for their entries in any one particular genre, Gilliat's efforts tended to be more serious and therefore generally worthier of attention and less prone to become dated with the passage of time.Anyway, this film again features Christopher Lee in just one scene (albeit an amusing one as a black-eyed movie star attempting to pull off an insurance fraud!) and, in a more substantial role than in the previously-viewed PORT AFRIQUE (1956), Dennis Price. The elaborate plot also involves arson, fake paintings, a blackmail scheme, and even the shaky rekindling of an old romance. The rather mismatched stars are Jack Hawkins (immediately prior to embarking upon his international/movie spectaculars phase with the same year's THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) and American Arlene Dahl (just as unconvincingly married here to asthmatic and unbalanced aristocrat Price) who run the gamut of emotions trying first to hide their prior affair then facing it head-on following Price's fiery death, Hawkins accusing Dahl of the murderous deed and then compromising his position in the insurance firm he works for by sticking by her (even if he knows the blaze was deliberately ignited) and fend off the inevitable vultures – knowledgeable of this fact – over Price's estate. This being the 1950s, everything works its way satisfactorily towards a happy ending – down to Hawkins' associates literally chasing after him out on the streets in the final scene to retract his decision to resign rather than bring shame upon his colleagues and superiors! As I said, the film is classy (even managing a few dream sequences to cloud Hawkins' mind during his mission) and reasonably absorbing (the identity of the chief blackmailers is quite a surprise) throughout – but taking care to also provide meaty supporting turns by the likes of Ian Hunter (as the proverbial "friend of the family"), Geoffrey Keen (as Hawkins' sympathetic superior), Bernard Miles (a similar role to the one he had just played in Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH {1956}), Greta Gynt as a middle-aged nymphomaniac(!) and Michael Goodliffe (as a dogged Police Inspector). Incidentally, the print I watched sported the somewhat more appropriate U.S. moniker of SHE PLAYED WITH FIRE and, while pristine enough, suffered from the occasional jerkiness

A London insurance adjuster (Jack Hawkins) compromises his principals when he covers up an arson/murder involving a former flame (Arlene Dahl), now married to another... A classy and classic example of the "Brit Noir", SHE PLAYED WITH FIRE is actually a Columbia Picture filmed at Shepperton Studios, England. Based on the novel "Fortune Is A Woman", this was the second of two British-made Columbia noirs starring ravishing Arlene Dahl -the first being WICKED AS THEY COME (aka "Portrait In Smoke" 1956). This one begins with a nightmare, unfolds in extended flashback (with intermittent voice-over), has a number of twists and turns, is set (for the most part) in a gloomy, Gothic manor house and is given some stylishly atmospheric touches by director Sidney Gilliat. Greta "Human Monster" Gynt has a brief but amusing role as the licentious Mrs. Litchens and Christopher Lee has a bit near the beginning as a vainglorious matinée idol. Ian Hunter and Dennis Price co-star.Overall, it's not very dark and if you feel as if you've been had at the end, it's because you have. Still, there's something about it...8/10

There's a lot to enjoy in this above average British thriller from the Frank Launder-Sidney Gilliat production team. Start with Jack Hawkins as morally compromised insurance investigator Oliver Branwell, who gets himself personally involved in an arson case he's supposed to be investigating. Asthmatic Tracey Moreton (Dennis Price) is now married to Oliver's old flame Sarah (unimpressive Arlene Dahl), and when a minor accidental fire at Moreton Manor reunites the old lovers, things become increasingly more complicated. The film starts with a magnificent dolly shot reminiscent of the one opening Roland West's The Bat Whispers (1930), continues with a brief surrealistic dream sequence, and then descends into a noirish nightmare highlighted by superb black and white scenes of night time London. Also amongst the cast are a pre-stardom Christopher Lee, sexy Greta Gynt, and best of all Bernard Miles as Mr. Jerome, a dyspeptic private investigator who gets all the good comic lines ("shall I be mother?", "I'm afraid I ate something that didn't agree with me...something on the toast"). Fortune Is A Woman (She Played With Fire) is not a classic, but it's a very enjoyable feature bearing all the hallmarks of classic British cinema: excellent acting, intelligent writing, and exquisite production values.