Blackout, also known as Murder by Proxy, has a well-written mystery that it fumbles right at the end. Mercifully this misstep mostly happens after the action is all over and can be skipped on repeat viewings. The final shot of the film and a last-minute revelation leading into it feel so out of place that it threatens to derail the entire film. That revelation also feels completely unearned and unnecessary. This is a movie that is leading you to a specific conclusion, has a twist that is only somewhat predictable, and then stumbles on the one-yard line.
It opens with Casey Morrow (Dane Clark), a down-on-his-luck drunk, drinking the night away in a London bar. He is approached by Phyllis Brunner (Belinda Lee), a beautiful young heiress who offers him some money if he will marry her. He accepts, then wakes up the next morning in another woman’s apartment with blood on his coat from the murder of Phyllis’ father. This kicks off a mystery involving a large inheritance, romance, and a cold-blooded woman willing to do anything to make that inheritance hers and hers alone.
A big fault of this film is the character of Casey Morrow. Casey is never convincing as anything but the alcoholic. When he shifts gears and becomes an amateur private investigator out to prove his innocence of the crime, it never rings true. Instead, it feels like Dane Clark is playing two different characters in the same film. We are also told that Phyllis eventually falls in love with him but that feels like something the screenwriter dropped into the script at the last minute without anything solid to back it up; it’s there just to get a last minute happy ending. It’s shoehorned in and awkward. The mystery and the resolution are well written, though, and the true killer revelation is a real surprise, though there are some subtle clues along the way that may gently nudge you towards the truth. The best part of the film is the a-ha moment when all is revealed and the finale kicks off. Everything that happens after that, though, is better off skipped. 1954 - 87 minutes
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