I enjoyed seeing this 1952 film which was intelligently acted & directed.I had to remember my school physics where the Law of conservation of matter states that "Matter can be neither created nor destroyed but it can be converted into another form".I would like to have learnt a bit more about the physics of transponders in 1952 before cloning had been invented.Remember "Dolly" the sheep which hit the news headlines a few years ago?This was an enjoyable maiden effort by Hammer Films and I was glad I could see it (for the first time) at 71 years of age without other operators buying up the rights and expecting viewers to register via YT to see the film.I rated it 7/10.

*Spoiler/plot- Four sided triangle, 1953. Bill and Robin, helped by their childhood gal friend, Lena, develop a "reproducer" machine invention which can exactly duplicate any object.*Special Stars- Barbara Peyton, James Hayter, Stephan Murray, John Van Eyssen. *Theme- Human emotions maybe can have bad consequences between work mates.*Trivia/location/goofs- B & W, British, Hammer films.*Emotion- Less of a solid science fiction story and more of a human emotion melodrama between three kids that grow up to a troubled adulthood. In adulthood they get emotionally involved that leads to destructive actions between them around their new invention. *Based On- 50's science fiction stories with human emotional twist.

Early film from Hammer studios is a science fiction yarn about two lifelong friends named Bill & Robin(Stephen Murray & John Van Eyssen) who are in love with the same girl named Lena(played by Barbara Payton) Eventually, Lena chooses Robin, leaving Bill devastated, but as a scientist, he has invented a cloning device that duplicates matter, so creates a new Lena for himself, named Helen. Unfortunately, Helen also loves Robin(!) so frustrated and angry, Bill goes to extreme lengths to rectify this... Good premise, with much potential, but largely goes unrealized in dull and melodramatic film that turns into pure soap opera. Terence Fisher directed, but would go on to better films.

**CAUTION: HUGE SPOILERS** In a rural English community, two friends called Bill (STEPHEN MURRAY) and Robin (JOHN VAN EYSSEN) invent a 'reproducer', a piece of scientific equipment which can recreate any object. They are aided in their work by Dr Harvey (JAMES HAYTER), the local GP and a close friend of theirs since they were children. During the celebrations of their fantastic discovery, Robin announces that he is to marry Lena (BARBARA PAYTON), a beautiful woman who both friends have fancied since they were children. Devastated, Bill decides to use the reproducer to create a clone of Lena for himself. However, as the clone is an exact replica, she shares the same thoughts and feelings as the real Lena.FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE is an absurd but nevertheless enjoyable science-fiction melodrama. Along with STOLEN FACE (see my review), it is one of the very few films from this chapter in the history of Hammer and Terence Fisher to indicate the direction that the company would take when they became Britain's best horror studio. Both pictures share the same theme of a well to do man perverting his skills in order to win the affections of the woman he loves. For example, in STOLEN FACE, Dr Philip Ritter used his knowledge of plastic surgery to recreate the face of concert pianist Alice Brent on a deformed petty criminal because he couldn't marry Alice because she was already spoken for. The very same reason why Bill in FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE felt compelled to use his scientific invention to duplicate Lena. Also both Dr Ritter and Bill were so obsessed in their love for women that they were both unable to see that disastrous consequences could result. Both characters from these two early movies are comparable to Baron Frankenstein in Fisher's THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Even though Frankentein was more concerned with bringing the dead back to life than with his love life, he also was too oblivious to the certain doom that faced him when his creature became a criminal lunatic and he intended his creature to be perfect very much as Bill and Ritter intended theirs to be. FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE must also be the only b-picture in cinema history to have the courage of it's own lunatic convictions. This is thanks largely to Terence Fisher who opts to emphasize the causes and consequences of the characters' actions and the moral outcome as well. For instance at the end of the film the screen is filled with a biblical quote "You can either have joy or power you shall not have both". This follows the climax where Bill and one of the Lena's perish in a fire. However, one of them survived and the only way to judge between the clone and the real Lena was by a scar on the back of the latter's neck. Robin is overjoyed when its the real Lena, his wife, who has survived. This is the significance of Fisher's biblical quote. Robin had been tempted by power, but once the machine was destroyed in the blaze, his one opportunity for power was lost but he still had his wife and therefore he had joy but not power. This very much sets the standards for Fisher's skill as a director, whereas most of his films from this period such as MASK OF DUST or SPACEWAYS have nothing to commend them at all. In his best films for Hammer, he had that ability to take a ridiculous storyline and give it conviction by placing attention solely on his characters and the consequences and morality of what could happen if such things did occur in the world. The cast sensibly play it straight and all are suited to their roles with James Hayter shining as Dr Harvey who aids the men in their experiments but at the same time warns them of the dangers they face. John Van Eyssen who was later the head of Columbia Pictures would appear as Jonathan Harker in Fisher's classic Dracula (1958).