Kill Her Gently

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Kill Her Gently
Kill Her Gently film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Charles Saunders
Written by Paul Erickson
Produced by Guido Coen
Starring Griffith Jones
Maureen Connell
Marc Lawrence
George Mikell
Cinematography Walter J. Harvey
Edited by Marjorie Saunders
Music by Edwin Astley
Production
company
Fortress Film Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures UK
Release dates
  • December 1957 (1957-12)(UK)
  • October 1958 (1958-10)(USA)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Kill Her Gently is a 1957 British second feature [1] thriller film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Maureen Connell and Marc Lawrence. [2] It was written by Paul Erickson.

Contents

Plot

A motorist picks up two convicts who have just escaped from prison. He recognises the men from descriptions given of them on the radio. He hires them to murder his wife. The plan goes wrong, and he and the convicts meet their doom.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The emphatic style needed to sustain this implausible thriller (made some time ago and now severely cut) is not forthcoming in the anaemic performances of the cast, so that interest rests with the five deaths scattered liberally throughout the story." [3]

Picture Show gave the film 1/3 stars, calling it a "dreary tale". [4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Dreary thriller, severely cut before its release in 1960." [5]

British film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Very mild and unmemorable thriller." [6]

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References

  1. Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 128. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. "Kill Her Gently". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  3. "Kill Her Gently". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 27 (312): 9. 1 January 1960 via ProQuest.
  4. "Kill Her Gently". Picture Show : 13. 30 January 1960 via ProQuest.
  5. Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 333. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  6. Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 556. ISBN   0586088946.