THE HOLIDAY

From the romantic razzledazzle of The Arabian Bird, to the sere caricature of Dear Emily, this is again a change of mood and an ironic- to sinister- story of the reversals which result in tragedy for an American in a small Italian fishing village. Charles Warren, a doctor, on a holiday from an unfaithful wife, leaves for Siena, remembered from the war, which he reaches with little money on hand having lost his travelers checks en route. A siren spot, its allure increases with the young and trusting Conctta who falls in love with Warren, not knowing that he is married. The natives are at first friendly- until Warren fails to receive his money- a telegram to his wife is garbled to transit and the Express Company misspells his name. His intervention in the illness of a child who subsequently dies completes the case against him- and his failure to reach the consul in Naples leaves him with no further recourse as the villagers- hostile and punitive- drive him to his death....The suspicion and exclusion of the alien in a foreign world, the changing landscape of the sunny retreat which offers no refuge from the grim vendetta of the natives, the mistakes and misunderstandings which lead to a tragic impasse, all this provides a dramatic entertainment which is progressively surprising and unnerving.