>>I think that its "low budget" (IMO) look hurts it somewhat. It wasn't an attractive movie to look at>>

Agreed. There's a drab, Perry Mason Goes to the Bailey kind of look to it, which was probably just fine with Golden Age of TV-weaned audiences and budget-conscious exec producer Edward Small. Still, there are some visual treats courtesy of art director Alexander Trauner. The Victoria Station scene, for example, is a particularly astonishing sleight-of-hand; although shot in a small studio, Trauner creates the illusion of limitless depth and elaborate production values. Viva Trauner.

Viva Wilder, too, for being savvy enough not to futz with the play's structure. Even in his final interviews, Wilder was still in awe of Agatha Christie's plotting gifts. "For every five hundred great dialog writers, there are five great constructionists. That's the toughest job in the world." Otherwise, he found her writing flat -- "no dialogue, no human elements" -- hence his reliance on Laughton for the humanizing touches, as well as adding the barrister's heart condition and the character of the henpecking nurse, both absent from the play.