Meet Simon Cherry

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Meet Simon Cherry
Meet Simon Cherry (1949 film).jpeg
Opening title card
Directed by Godfrey Grayson
Written byGodfrey Grayson
A. R. Rawlinson
Gale Pedrick (radio plays)
Produced by Anthony Hinds
StarringHugh Moxey
Jeanette Tregarthen
Anthony Forwood
John Bailey
Cinematography Cedric Williams
Edited by Ray Pitt
Music by
Production
company
Distributed byExclusive Films (UK)
Release date
  • January 1950 (1950-01)(UK) [1]
Running time
67 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Language English

Meet Simon Cherry is a 1949 British second feature ('B') [2] mystery film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Hugh Moxey. [3] The screenplay was by Grayson and A. R. Rawlinson based on the BBC radio series Meet the Rev by Gale Pedrick, featuring the crime solving cleric. [4] [5] [6] The film was originally to be called Meet the Rev, but when the film was trade shown on 22 November 1949, the title was changed. It was released theatrically in January 1950. Hammer had intended to produce a series of Simon Cherry films, but cancelled the project after this first film failed to become a hit. [7]

Contents

Plot

When the Rev. Simon ("The Rev") Cherry sets off for a much needed holiday, his car breaks down in a storm and he is forced to stay overnight in a manor house belonging to Lady Harling. The following morning, the body of Lady Harling's invalid daughter Lisa Colville is discovered, apparently murdered, and the Rev must bring his crime solving skills to the case. Lisa's cousin Henry accuses Lisa's husband Alan of murdering her. Simon later discovers that the young woman actually was not murdered but rather died from a heart attack, which comes as a relief to the Harling family.

Cast

Critical reception

Picturegoer wrote: "The story ... is conventional enough but it is treated without hysterics. Yet it manages to put over quite a reasonable thrill. The acting of the cast as a whole is quite competent." [8]

Picture Show wrote: "It is neatly directed, with the accent on suspense and character rather than noise and speed, and excellently acted." [9]

The Radio Times gave the film one out of five stars, writing: "Hugh Moxey made his screen debut in a feeble story." [10]

Sky Movies gave the film two out of five stars, noting a "a brisk, no-nonsense film version of one of Gale Pedrick's popular stories." [11]

TV Guide called it "competent enough." [12]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Elementary programme filler from a radio story." [13]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", calling it a "servicable, no-frills version of popular radio serial." [14]

References

  1. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 42. ISBN   0-7864-0034-X.
  2. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 76. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  3. ↑ "Meet Simon Cherry". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  4. ↑ "The Rev Simon Cherry (Gale Pedrick)".[ permanent dead link ]
  5. ↑ "Meet Simon Cherry (1949)". British Film Institute . Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "Meet the Rev". BBC Programme Index. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Tom (1996). Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. North Carolina: McFarland. p. 43. ISBN   0-7864-0034-X.
  8. ↑ "Meet Simon Cherry" . Picturegoer . 19: 17. 5 March 1950. ProQuest   1705072340.
  9. ↑ "Meet Simon Cherry" . Picture Show . 54 (1411): 12. 15 April 1950. ProQuest   1879626270.
  10. ↑ Eyles, Allen. "Meet Simon Cherry". Radio Times. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  11. ↑ "Meet Simon Cherry". Find and Watch. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "Meet Simon Cherry". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
  13. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 667. ISBN   0586088946.
  14. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 229. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
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