Double Confession | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Directed by | Ken Annakin |
Screenplay by | William Templeton |
Based on | All on a Summer's Day by John Garden |
Produced by | Harry Reynolds |
Starring | Derek Farr Joan Hopkins William Hartnell Peter Lorre |
Cinematography | Geoffrey Unsworth |
Edited by | Carmen Belaieff |
Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
Production company | Harry Reynolds Productions |
Distributed by | Associated British |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | £102,299 (UK) [1] |
Double Confession is a 1950 British crime film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, William Hartnell and Peter Lorre. [2] The screenplay by William Templeton is based on the novel All On A Summer's Day by H.L.V. Fletcher, written under the pen name John Garden. [3]
Arriving late at night in the (fictional) seaside town of Seagate, Jim Medway heads for his estranged wife Lorna's isolated coastal cottage. As he arrives, he sees prominent local businessman Charlie Durham coming out of the house. With the awareness that his wife had been having an affair with Durham, did Jim Medway kill her, or was it Charlie - or someone else entirely? Jim meets a young woman with a big decision to make in her life; he enjoys her company and wants to spend time with her, but she overhears him telling Charlie that he killed his wife, but plans to tell the police Charlie did so. This makes her decide to leave, but later, when they meet up again, she agrees to spend the day with him, having come to believe that he killed his wife in a moments of madness. She finally tells him that she knows about his wife, and that she realises that because of her death there is no future for her and Jim, but that she wanted them both to have a day to remember. However, she does not approve of his exacting revenge on Charlie by attempting to get the wealthy entrepreneur arrested for murdering Lorna, although he assures her he will not let Charlie take the blame; he only wants to make him suffer for a time. However, Durham's sinister homicidal sidekick Paynter is out to protect his friend by arranging a little "accident" for Medway. As Inspector Tenby slowly gathers clues to solve the mystery, he begins to suspect there is a less obvious culprit.
The film was made at the Teddington Studios of Warner Brothers in London with extensive location shooting in Bexhill-on-Sea and nearby Hastings in East Sussex. [4] The film's sets were designed by the art director Bernard Robinson.
It was one of two films Ken Annakin made on loan out from Gainsborough Pictures to Associated British, the other being Landfall . Annakin wrote "Neither had very good scripts, nor exciting casting... except for Peter Lorre" who was in Double Confession. Annakin admired Lorre so much he allowed "him to play his role in an offbeat, unconventional way" but "the result was that the film was pulled completely out of joint. Lorre stole every scene and acted like the boss of the casino instead of the henchman!" Annakin says Bill Hartnell, who played Lorre's boss, "was driven, quite justifiably, to bitter anger and even blows. I learned the hard way that a director must guard against allowing a gimmicky actor to add so much ‘shtick’ that he throws the balance of the whole film." [5]
Double Confession is missing from the BFI National Archive, and is included on the British Film Institute's list of "75 Most Wanted". [6] A complete 35mm print does exist in an independent archive in the UK.[ citation needed ] In February 2013, a restored edition was released on DVD by Renown Pictures in the UK. [7]
In contemporary reviews Kine Weekly said "The film has a very involved story and to make matters worse it keeps breaking off to tour the popular seaside resorts where it was shot. This, together with its colourless 'tarnished lady' love interest, takes much of the sting out of many an intended thrill." [8]
Monthly Film Bulletin wrote "Melodrama with an extremely confused plot involving two murders at a seaside resort. ... The film does not even remain true to its melodramatic plot, but breaks off into touches of stereotyped humour from Kathleen Harrison, and prolonged tours of the various entertainments of the scaside town." [9]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Thriller seems to have bewildered most reviewers: one remarked that it told him more about Bexhill and Hastings than its own plot." [10]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Confused and unlikely melodrama which signally lacks the ancient mariner's eye. " [11]
In The New York Times , Bosley Crowther commented, "it rambles around in maddening fashion for what seems interminable hours while Naunton Wayne as a deadpanned detective tries to figure out who killed whom...It is all very odd and disconnected, especially when Peter Lorre pops in from time to time to behave like a degenerate and offer to kill anybody in the house"; [12] while more recently Allmovie wrote, "The presence of Peter Lorre assured a modicum of American business for the British meller Double Confession...Lorre's role is largely peripheral, but he does supply a few moments of genuine menace"; [13]
Sky Movies wrote, "Director Ken Annakin showed in an earlier film, Holiday Camp [1947], that he liked to be beside the seaside. But, in this superior crime drama, he makes the resort of 'Seagate' appear a very sinister place indeed. The whodunnit plot benefits enormously from Peter Lorre's almost apologetic menace"; [14] and The Digital Fix concluded, "it’s an excellent piece of work. Tightly constructed, exceptionally well-performed and with a wonderful sense of place, Double Confession deserves to find an enthusiastic audience." [15]
Naunton Wayne, was a Welsh character actor, born in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales. He was educated at Clifton College. His name was changed by deed poll in 1933.
Miranda is a 1948 black and white British comedy film, directed by Ken Annakin and written by Peter Blackmore, who also wrote the play of the same name from which the film was adapted. The film stars Glynis Johns, Googie Withers, Griffith Jones, Margaret Rutherford, John McCallum and David Tomlinson. Denis Waldock provided additional dialogue. Music for the film was played by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Muir Mathieson. The sound director was B. C. Sewell.
Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE was an English film director.
Up the Junction is a 1968 British "kitchen sink" drama film, directed by Peter Collinson and starring Dennis Waterman, Suzy Kendall, Adrienne Posta, Maureen Lipman and Liz Fraser. It is based on the 1963 book of the same name by Nell Dunn and was adapted by Roger Smith. The soundtrack was by Manfred Mann. The film followed Ken Loach's BBC TV adaptation of 1965, but returned to the original book. It generated less controversy and impact than the Loach version.
Double Bunk is a 1961 British black-and-white comedy film directred by C.M. Pennington-Richards and starring Ian Carmichael and Sid James.
The Planter's Wife is a 1952 British war drama film directed by Ken Annakin, and starring Claudette Colbert, Jack Hawkins and Anthony Steel. It is set against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency and focuses on a rubber planter and his neighbours who are fending off a campaign of sustained attacks by Communist insurgents while also struggling to save their marriage.
The Informers is a 1963 British crime film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Nigel Patrick, Margaret Whiting, Harry Andrews, Derren Nesbitt and Colin Blakely. It was produced by William MacQuitty, with screenplay by Paul Durst and Alun Falconer from the novel Death of a Snout by Douglas Warner. Cinematography was by Reginald H. Wyer. It was distributed in the UK by The Rank Organisation and the U.S. by Continental Film Distributors.
The Seekers is a 1954 British-New Zealand adventure film directed by Ken Annakin. It starred Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns, Noel Purcell, and Kenneth Williams. The film was produced by the Rank Organisation and was shot at Pinewood Studios with location shooting around Whakatāne. The film's sets were designed by the art director Maurice Carter with costumes by Julie Harris. It was the first major international studio film shot in New Zealand. The film was adapted from the novel The Seekers by New Zealander John Guthrie. It was released in the United States by Universal Pictures as Land of Fury.
Holiday Camp is a 1947 British comedy drama film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Flora Robson, Jack Warner, Dennis Price, and Hazel Court, and also features Kathleen Harrison and Jimmy Hanley. It is set at one of the then-popular holiday camps. It resonated with post-war audiences and was very successful. It was the first film to feature the Huggett family, who went on to star in "The Huggetts" film series.
Jigsaw is a 1962 British black and white crime film directed by Val Guest and starring Jack Warner and Ronald Lewis. The screenplay was by Guest based on the 1959 police procedural novel Sleep Long, My Love by Hillary Waugh, with the setting changed from the fictional small town of Stockford, Connecticut, to Brighton, Sussex, while retaining the names and basic natures of its two police protagonists and most of the other characters.
You Know What Sailors Are is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Donald Sinden, Michael Hordern, Bill Kerr, Dora Bryan and Akim Tamiroff. The screenplay by Peter Rogers was based on the 1951 novel Sylvester by Edward Hyams. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location around the Isle of Portland. The film's sets were designed by the art director George Provis.
Landfall is a 1949 British war film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Michael Denison, Patricia Plunkett and Kathleen Harrison. It is based on the 1940 novel Landfall: A Channel Story, written by Nevil Shute.
Broken Journey is a 1948 British drama film directed by Ken Annakin and featuring Phyllis Calvert, James Donald, Margot Grahame, Raymond Huntley and Guy Rolfe. Passengers and crew strugge to survive after their airliner crashes on top of a mountain; based on a true-life accident in the Swiss Alps.
Value for Money is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring John Gregson, Diana Dors, Susan Stephen and Derek Farr. It is based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Derrick Boothroyd.
Nor the Moon by Night is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Belinda Lee. It was based on the novel by Joy Packer and partly filmed in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The title is a quote from the Old Testament passage ; "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night."
The Hellions is a 1961 British adventure film directed by Ken Annakin starring Richard Todd, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries, Ronald Fraser and Colin Blakely that was set and filmed in South Africa.
Across the Bridge is a 1957 British thriller film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Rod Steiger, David Knight and Bernard Lee. It is based on the 1938 short story "Across the Bridge" by Graham Greene. According to his obituary, it was director Annakin's favourite film.
French Dressing is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Ken Russell and starring James Booth, Marisa Mell and Roy Kinnear. Its plot concerns a deckchair attendant in the run-down seaside resort of Gormleigh-on-Sea who is promoted to publicity officer. In an effort to drum up interest in the town he organises a film festival and invites a major French film star. The event is soon thrown into chaos by the machinations of jealous mayors from rival towns.
Murder in Reverse is a 1945 British thriller film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring William Hartnell, Jimmy Hanley and Chili Bouchier. It is based on the story Query by "Seamark".
William Pettigrew Templeton was a Scottish playwright and screenwriter who contributed a string of episodic dramas for American prime time television during the Golden Age of Television in the 1950s and 1960s.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)