Four Sided Triangle

Four Sided Triangle is a 1953 British B-movie science fiction film directed by Terence Fisher. It was written by Paul Tabori and Fisher, adapting William F. Temple’s 1949 novel. The cast includes Stephen Murray, Barbara Payton, John Van Eyssen, and James Hayter. Hammer Film Productions shot it at Bray Studios from August to September 1952, and it anticipated the studio’s later move into horror and science fiction. The plot follows two scientists who build a machine that can replicate objects and use it to create a copy of a woman. J. Elder Wills handled art direction. Around this time, James Carreras announced that future Hammer films would be produced alternately by his son Michael Carreras or Anthony Hinds, leading to nearly nonstop filming.

The story begins with Dr. Harvey, an elderly country doctor, breaking the fourth wall to recount a strange event in his village, told mainly in flashback. As boys, Bill and Robin both loved Lena, a girl their age. After her family moves away, the two become scientists and, working in an abandoned farmhouse, build the Reproducer, a machine that perfectly duplicates physical objects. Years later, Lena returns, rekindling their childhood feelings. They abandon their work, and Robin leaves to learn his family’s business. Bill is crushed to learn Lena loves Robin and plans to marry him. Hoping to win her, Bill persuades Lena to let him duplicate her. The experiment works, and he names the copy “Helen.” Because she is an exact duplicate, Helen also loves Robin. Bill believes electric shock therapy can erase Helen’s memory of Robin. Realizing she cannot have him, Helen agrees. Bill gets Lena to help with the procedure in the farmhouse. The process goes as planned, but the machine overheats, explodes, and starts a massive fire. Robin and Dr. Harvey arrive and rescue one woman from the flames; Bill and the other woman die. Harvey, briefed by Robin, recalls that Bill had to restart Helen’s heart with a device that left two small scars on the back of her neck. Robin is relieved to find no marks on the rescued woman: she is Lena.

This film was an early Hammer effort. The laboratory set features “a welter of retorts, alembics, rheostats and plain, old neon tubing,” a chaotic, improvised look contrasted with the sophisticated labs of 1930s Universal Horror films. The movie uses minimal trick photography and special effects, likely