Crown v. Stevens

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Crown v. Stevens
Crown v. Stevens (1936 film).jpg
Directed by Michael Powell
Written by Brock Williams
Based on
Third Time Unlucky
1935 novel
by  Laurence Meynell
Produced by Irving Asher
Starring Beatrix Thomson
Patric Knowles
Cinematography Basil Emmott
Edited by A. B. Bates
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • 3 August 1936 (1936-08-03)(UK)
Running time
66 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Crown v. Stevens (also known as Third Time Unlucky [1] ) is a 1936 British crime thriller film directed by Michael Powell, starring Beatrix Thomson and Patric Knowles and featuring Glennis Lorimer and Googie Withers. [1] It was written by Brock Williams based on the 1935 novel Third Time Unlucky by Lawrence Meynell, and was made as a quota quickie. [2]

Contents

Plot

Ex-dancer Doris Stevens kills a moneylender who is pressing her for settlement of her debt and threatening to tell her respectable businessman husband. Chris Jensen, who also owes money (for a ring he gave to his fiancée, who ran off with it) sees her there but does not report her. After she leaves, he burns pages from the moneylender's ledger which listed his debt. Later, Jensen finds out the woman is his employer's wife. He later accidentally intervenes when Doris attempts to murder her dull and stingy husband. When her husband is saved from dying, he admits her guilt and is taken away by the police. [3]

Cast

Production

Director Michael Powell said of the five "quota quickies" he directed for producer Irving Asher at Warner Bros.' Teddington Studios, that they were "a damn sight more honest and more entertaining" then other films he worked on at the time, "because they were not trying to be anything but what they were, and they were tailored from first-class scripts". These were cut down to 50 pages by the story department and handed over to the director. Powell called Crown vs. Stevens, his next-to-last film for Asher, a "tight little drama". [4] [5]

Critical reception

Kinematograph Weekly called it a "Vivid portrayal of a young woman who commits murder and then tries to poison her husband, thereby involving his employee, a witness to the former crime. Plot is entirely suited to those who do not demand that a crime story should justify its existence by reaching too high an artistic level in theme, acting or presentation. Definitely unsuited to the family, the picture may nevertheless find a place in the average programme as a quota thriller." [6]

TV Guide called it "Occasionally suspenseful," though opined "the plot is soggy and the actors all wet." [7]

Dennis Schwartz noted "a very entertaining little melodrama," and concluded "The acting honors go to (Beatrix) Thomson. The stage actress was superb as the quintessential femme fatale, and easily steals this film from her capable co-stars." [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Crown v. Stevens". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 27 October 2026.
  2. ↑ Chibnall, Steve (2007). Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film. British Film Institute. p. 282. ISBN   978-1844571550.
  3. ↑ "Crown V Stevens | Britmovie | Home of British Films". Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  4. ↑ Powell, Michael (1986) A Life in Movies: An Autobiography. New York: Knopf. p.238 ISBN   0-394-55935-5
  5. ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Crown v. Stevens (1936)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 December 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2026.
  6. ↑ "Contemporary Review (Kinematograph Weekly) - Crown v. Stevens (1936)". www.powell-pressburger.org.
  7. ↑ "Crown Vs Stevens - TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Schwartz, Dennis. "crownvsstevens". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010.
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