Escort for Hire

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Escort for Hire
"Escort for Hire" (1960).jpeg
Directed by Godfrey Grayson
Written byMark Grantham
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography James Wilson (as Jimmy Wilson)
Edited by Desmond Saunders
Music by Tony Crombie (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (UK)
Release date
  • December 1960 (1960-12)
Running time
66 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Escort for Hire is a low budget 'B' [1] 1960 British thriller film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring June Thorburn, Pete Murray, Noel Trevarthen, Jan Holden and Peter Butterworth. [2] [3] [4] It was written by Mark Grantham and produced by the Danzigers.

Contents

Plot

Unemployed actor Steve gets a job with Miss Kennedy's agency as an escort-bodyguard, but ends up being framed for murder after a wealthy client, Miss Elizabeth Quinn, is killed. [5]

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The film, dating some way back in the Danziger assembly line, is hardly more than a grab-bag of assorted clichés – from the gag about the short-sighted socialite (played with predatory relish by Jill Melford) to the "surprise" identity of the killer. But it's generally briskly handled and has a Technicolor veneer which, while it may not bear close inspection, still manages to suggest expertise behind the scenes. Pete Murray's crudely comic performance as Buzz is mercilessly irritating, but the rest of the cast go through the motions likeably enough." [6]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film described the film as: "mildly entertaining, but the plot is full of coincidences and perfunctory causality." [1]

TV Guide wrote, "this routine British crime melodrama is slightly enhanced by Technicolor." [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 160. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Escort for Hire". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "Escort for Hire (1960) - Godfrey Grayson - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  4. ↑ "Escort for Hire (1960)". BFI. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14.
  5. ↑ "DANZIGER FILMS". 78rpm.co.uk.
  6. ↑ "Escort for Hire". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 29 (336): 51. 1 January 1962 – via ProQuest.
  7. ↑ "Escort For Hire". TVGuide.com.


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