Behind the Headlines (1956 film)

Last updated

Behind the Headlines
"Behind the Headlines" (1956).jpg
Directed by Charles Saunders
Written by Allan MacKinnon
Based onBehind the Headlines (novel)
by Robert Chapman
Produced by Guido Coen
Starring
Cinematography Geoffrey Faithfull
Edited by Margery Saunders
Music by Stanley Black
Production
company
Kenilworth Film Productions
Distributed by Rank Organisation
Release date
  • July 1956 (1956-07)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Behind the Headlines is a 1956 'B' [1] British crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Paul Carpenter, Adrienne Corri, Hazel Court and Alfie Bass. [2] [3] It was written by Allan MacKinnon based on the 1955 novel Behind the Headlines by Robert Chapman. [4]

Contents

A male and female journalist join forces to hunt down a murderer.

Plot

American Paul Banner used to be a reporter working in London. Recently leaving his paper, he has gone freelance, so that he can focus more on chasing down facts and selling his stories once he gets them. He has no regrets in leaving his job as there will be no more deadlines or misguided editors to divert his attention. He starts up a news service, Banners News Agency, whose motto is "ferret out the facts and sell them to the highest bidder."

When showgirl Nina Duke is murdered, the press are all harrying the police for statements and facts but Banner hangs back and does a little work of his own to uncover the story. Nina, it transpires, was previously in jail for blackmail, so it is possible that this was why she was killed. Banner initially falls for the affections of rival reporter Pam Barnes, but his true affections lie with his secretary, Maxine.

A race to find the killer has Banner trying to get the story that the police cannot.

Cast

Production

The film was made at Southall Studios.

Director Charles Saunders previously made One Jump Ahead (1955), which had many similarities to Behind the Headlines. [5] The story of a news reporter investigating a murder, again played by Paul Carpenter, and from a story by Robert Chapman. Saunders specialised in the B movie at the Kenilworth Films Production house which turned out 11 mainly crime thrillers between 1948 and 1956. [6]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Although this comedy thriller makes no attempt at originality, it is quite competently presented and played, and works amiably enough through its series of standarised situations/" [7]

TV Guide concluded: "Weak script and stiff direction offer little suspense in this routine yarn." [8]

The Radio Times wrote: "... this is elevated above the morass of British crime B-movies by a sure sense of newsroom atmosphere that owes more to Hollywood than Pinewood... there's a convincing seediness about the backstage milieu thanks to Geoffrey Faithfull's unfussy photography. It may lack suspense and newsman Paul Carpenter is short on charisma, but there's admirable support from the likes of Adrienne Corri, Hazel Court and Alfie Bass." [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Devil Girl from Mars</i> 1954 British film by David MacDonald

Devil Girl from Mars is a 1954 British second feature black-and-white science fiction film, produced by the Danziger Brothers, directed by David MacDonald and starring Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Peter Reynolds, and Adrienne Corri. It was released by British Lion, and released in the United States the following year. A female alien is sent from Mars to acquire human males to replace their declining male population. When negotiation, then intimidation, fails she must use force to obtain co-operation from a remote Scottish village where she has landed her crippled flying saucer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Carpenter (actor)</span> Canadian actor and singer

Paul Carpenter was a Canadian actor and singer.

<i>The Tell-Tale Heart</i> (1960 film) 1960 British film

The Tell-Tale Heart is a 1960 British horror film directed by Ernest Morris produced by the Danzigers. The screenplay by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard is a loose adaptation of the 1843 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. The film was released in England in December 1960, and in the U.S. in February 1962 as The Hidden Room of 1,000 Horrors.

<i>Return of a Stranger</i> (1961 film) 1961 British film by Max Varnel

Return of a Stranger is a 1961 British second feature thriller film directed by Max Varnel and starring John Ireland and Susan Stephen.

<i>Find the Lady</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Charles Saunders

Find the Lady is a 1956 British comedy thriller 'B' film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Donald Houston, Beverley Brooks and Mervyn Johns.

<i>Blind Mans Bluff</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film by Charles Saunders

Blind Man's Bluff is a 1952 British 'B' crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Zena Marshall, Sydney Tafler, and Anthony Pendrell. It was written by John Gilling.

<i>The Delavine Affair</i> 1955 British film by Douglas Peirce

The Delavine Affair is a 1955 British second feature crime film directed by Douglas Peirce and starring Peter Reynolds, Honor Blackman and Gordon Jackson. The screenplay was by George Fisher and Basil Boothroyd, based on the 1952 novel Winter Wears a Shroud by Robert Chapman.

<i>The Golden Link</i> 1954 British film by Charles Saunders

The Golden Link is a 1954 British police drama film directed by Charles Saunders, starring André Morell, Patrick Holt, Thea Gregory and Jack Watling. It was produced by Guido Coen under his Kenilworth Film Productions, featuring a screenplay by Allan MacKinnon and soundtrack by Eric Spear. The story concerns the death of a young woman, having fallen to her demise inside an apartment building. A policeman neighbour, Superintendent Blake, conducts an unofficial investigation, which initially seems to implicate his own daughter in a murder plot.

<i>Strictly for the Birds</i> 1964 British film by Vernon Sewell

Strictly for the Birds is a 1964 British second feature comedy film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Tony Tanner, Joan Sims and Graham Stark. Terry Blessing seems to be having a lucky day, winning at gambling, until a woman with whom he'd had an assignation six years previously phones him and claims her child is his son.

<i>One Jump Ahead</i> (film) 1955 British film by Charles Saunders

One Jump Ahead is a 1955 British crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Paul Carpenter, Diane Hart, Jill Adams and Freddie Mills. The screenplay was by Doreen Montgomery based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Robert H. Chapman.

<i>Calling All Cars</i> (1954 film) 1954 British film by Maclean Rogers

Calling All Cars is a 1954 short film directed by Maclean Rogers, starring Cardew Robinson and John Fitzgerald. The film also features Spike Milligan voicing the thoughts of "Freddie", an old taxicab featured in the film.

<i>The Scarlet Web</i> 1954 British film by Charles Saunders

The Scarlet Web is a 1954 British second feature crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Hazel Court and Zena Marshall.

<i>Behind the Headlines</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Maclean Rogers

Behind the Headlines is a 1953 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Gilbert Harding, John Fitzgerald and Adrienne Fancey.

<i>Counterspy</i> (film) 1953 British film by Vernon Sewell

Counterspy is a 1953 British second feature thriller film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Dermot Walsh, Hazel Court and Hermione Baddeley. An accountant comes into possession of secret papers sought by both the government and a spy ring.

<i>Death of an Angel</i> 1952 British film by Charles Saunders

Death of an Angel is a 1952 British 'B' crime drama film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Patrick Barr, Jane Baxter and Jean Lodge. The screenplay was by Reginald Long based on the play This is Mary's Chair by Frank King.

<i>Come Back Peter</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film by Charles Saunders

Come Back Peter is a 1952 second feature British comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Patrick Holt, Peter Hammond and Humphrey Lestocq. It was an independent picture by Charles Reynolds Productions.

<i>Johnny on the Spot</i> 1954 British film by Maclean Rogers

Johnny on the Spot is a 1954 British 'B' crime drama film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Hugh McDermott, Elspet Gray and Paul Carpenter. It was written by Rogers based on the 1953 novel Paid in Full by Michael Cronin.

<i>Clue of the Twisted Candle</i> 1960 British film by Allan Davis

Clue of the Twisted Candle is a 1960 British second feature crime film directed by Allan Davis and starring Bernard Lee, David Knight and Francis De Wolff. Part of the long-running series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios, it is based on the 1918 novel The Clue of the Twisted Candle.

<i>The Fourth Square</i> 1961 British film by Allan Davis

The Fourth Square is a 1961 British second feature crime film directed by Allan Davis and starring Conrad Phillips, Natasha Parry and Delphi Lawrence. Part of the long-running series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios, it is loosely based on the 1929 novel Four Square Jane by Edgar Wallace.

<i>Flight from Vienna</i> 1955 British film by Denis Kavanagh

Flight from Vienna, also known as Escape from the Iron Curtain, is a 1955 second feature British film directed by Denis Kavanagh and starring Theodore Bikel and John Bentley.

References

Notes

  1. Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 128. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. "Behind the Headlines". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. "Film details: 'Behind the Headlines' (1956)." British Film Institute, 2016. Retrieved: 24 August 2016.
  4. Goble 1999, p. 81.
  5. "Behind the Headlines (1956)." IMDb. Retrieved: 1 July 2013.
  6. Chibnall and McFarland 2009, p. 68.
  7. "Behind the Headlines". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 23 (264): 116. 1 January 1956 via ProQuest.
  8. "Overview: 'Behind The Headlines'." TV Guide, 2016. Retrieved: @4 August 2016.
  9. "Behind the Headlines.' RadioTimes. Retrieved: @4 August 2016.

Bibliography

  • Chibnall, Steve and Brian McFarlane. The British 'B' Film. London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009. ISBN   978-1-8445-7320-2.
  • Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. London: Walter de Gruyter, 1999. ISBN   978-1-8573-9229-6.