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The Strange Awakening
The Strange Awakening
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Montgomery Tully
Screenplay by	J. McLaren Ross
Based on	novel Puzzle for Fiends by Hugh Wheeler (as Patrick Quentin)
Produced by	Alec C. Snowden
Starring	Lex Barker; Carole Mathews; Lisa Gastoni; Peter Dyneley
Cinematography	Philip Grindrod
Edited by	Geoffrey Muller
Music by	Richard Taylor
Production; company	Merton Park Studios
Distributed by	Cinema Associates
Release date	13 April 1958 (UK);
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Strange Awakening (U.S. title: Female Fiends) is a 1958 British second feature^[2] film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Lex Barker and Carole Mathews.^[3] It was written by J. McLaren Ross based on the 1946 novel Puzzle for Fiends by Hugh Wheeler (as Patrick Quentin).

Plot

Motoring in the South of France, Peter Chance picks up a hitchhiker, and is attacked and left unconscious. Awaking in a villa with no memory of his identity, he is told by a woman claiming to be his mother that he is the heir to a fortune. When police investigate the death of his "father" Chance becomes suspicious and starts to investigate.

Cast

Lex Barker as Peter Chance
Carole Mathews as Selena Friend
Lisa Gastoni as Marny Friend
Nora Swinburne as Mrs. Friend
Peter Dyneley as Dr. Rene Normand
Joe Robinson as Sven
Malou Pantera as Isabella
Richard Molinas as Louis
John Serret as Commissaire Sagain
Stanley Maxted as Mr. Moffat
Monica Grey as Iris Chance
Yvonne Andre as nun
Raf De La Torre as Mr. Petheridge

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A summary of the plot does not do justice to this gripping version of the amnesia theme. The modest production successfully creates an atmosphere and the acting, though unremarkable, is always competent. A good 'B' melodrama."^[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Genuinely atmospheric suspense film."^[5]

References

^ Goble, Alan (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110951943 – via Google Books.
^ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 400. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
^ "The Strange Awakening". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
^ "The Strange Awakening". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 25 (288): 64. 1 January 1958 – via ProQuest.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 380. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.