Mr. Denning Drives North

Last updated

Mr. Denning Drives North
"Mr Denning Drives North" (1952).jpg
UK theatrical poster
Directed by Anthony Kimmins
Written by Alec Coppel
Based on Mr. Denning Drives North by Alec Coppel
Produced byAnthony Kimmins
Stephen Mitchell
Starring John Mills
Phyllis Calvert
Herbert Lom
Eileen Moore
Cinematography John Wilcox
Edited byGerald Turney-Smith
Music by Benjamin Frankel
Production
company
Distributed by British Lion Films
Release date
  • 18 December 1951 (1951-12-18)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£70,197 (UK) [1]

Mr. Denning Drives North is a 1951 British mystery film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring John Mills, Phyllis Calvert and Sam Wanamaker. [2] Alec Coppel wrote the script, adapted from his own 1950 novel of the same title. An aircraft manufacturer accidentally kills his daughter's boyfriend and tries to dispose of the body.

Contents

Plot

Wealthy aircraft manufacturer Tom Denning and his wife Kay have a daughter, Liz, who is having an affair with Mados, an international crook. Denning meets with Mados in an attempt to get him away from his daughter, but accidentally kills him with a punch when Mados falls and strikes his head. Instead of calling the police, Denning disposes of the body in a ditch. He tries to disguise the identity of the body by placing a large ornate ring on a finger. A gipsy finds the body and steals the ring. Later, torn with his guilt, Denning goes back to pick up the body only to find that it has disappeared.

Cast

Production

Film rights were bought by Alexander Korda's London Films. [3] John Mills's casting was announced in May 1951. [4] It was Mills's first film in almost two years. [5]

At one stage Dane Clark and Pat Roc were reportedly going to support Mills. [6]

Sam Wanamaker had been living in England since 1949 and was offered the part after writing to his agent from holiday in France asking if any jobs were going. [7]

The film was made at Shepperton Studios.

Instead of credits appearing on screen at the beginning of the film, a narrator announces the film's title, and then reads out the list of actors' names.

Reception

Box office

The film performed poorly at the British box office. [1]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The plot is excessively complicated, depends very largely on coincidence, and makes the remarkable assumption that a man who apparently feels no guilt about his crime should be worried almost to the point of a breakdown by the fact that he appears to have got away with it, and should deliberately begin an investigation likely to lead – as it nearly does – to his own arrest. ... The extreme unreality of the story is echoed in the characterisation; John Mills has a foolish and unpredictable part, played at least with technical assurance; Phyllis Calvert does little with the understanding wife, and the most enjoyable moments are those provided by Freda Jackson, as a tyrannical and avaricious queen of the gipsies." [8]

The New York Times wrote: "this little melodrama serves as still another reminder, from a country that jolly well knows how to exercise it, that restraint can work minor wonders [...] Persuasive and tingling, minus one false note [...] No doubt about it. The British have what it takes." [9]

Variety reviewed the film in 1951 calling it "unconvincing and involved" where the direction was "completely inadequate." [10] Two years later the magazine reviewed it more favorably calling it "tense and skillfully developed." [11]

The Washington Post thought the Rolls-Royce "made more sense than any of the alleged human characters [...] a bit pretentious." [12]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Initially suspenseful but finally disappointing melodrama which seems to lack a twist or two." [13]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Film walks tightrope between comedy and suspense with varying success." [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Calvert</span> British film actress (1915–2002)

Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill, known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s such as The Man in Grey (1943) and was one of the most popular movie stars in Britain in the 1940s. She continued her acting career for another 50 years.

Cast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by John Cresswell, based on the 1952 play Murder Mistaken by Janet Green. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Kay Walsh, Kathleen Harrison and Robert Flemyng. The film was released on 20 September 1955, distributed by Eros Films Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Distributors Corporation of America in the United States. The story concerns a husband who murders his wife.

<i>Its Great to Be Young</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Cyril Frankel

It's Great to Be Young is a 1956 British Technicolor musical comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Cecil Parker and John Mills. It was written by Ted Willis. The story concerns an inspirational school music teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Kent</span> English actress (1921–2013)

Jean Kent, born Joan Mildred Field was an English film and television actress.

<i>The Good Die Young</i> 1954 British film by Lewis Gilbert

The Good Die Young is a 1954 British crime film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker, Richard Basehart and John Ireland. It was made by Remus Films from a screenplay by Vernon Harris and Gilbert based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Richard Macaulay. It tells the story of four men in London with no criminal past whose marriages and finances are collapsing and, meeting in a pub, are tempted to redeem their situations by a robbery.

<i>The Last Page</i> 1952 British film by Terence Fisher

The Last Page, released in the United States as Man Bait, is a 1952 British film noir directed by Terence Fisher, starring George Brent, Marguerite Chapman and Diana Dors. The film was also known as Murder in Safety and Blonde Blackmail.

<i>The Flanagan Boy</i> 1953 film by Reginald Le Borg

The Flanagan Boy is a 1953 British film noir directed by Reginald Le Borg. It was made by Hammer Film Productions and stars Barbara Payton, Tony Wright, Frederick Valk and Sid James. It was based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Max Catto.

<i>Escape by Night</i> (1953 film) 1953 British film by John Gilling

Escape by Night is a 1953 British crime film directed and written by John Gilling.

<i>Broken Journey</i> 1948 British film by Ken Annakin

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.

<i>Street Corner</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Muriel Box

Street Corner is a 1953 British drama film directed by Muriel Box and starring Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, Anne Crawford, Rosamund John and Barbara Murray. It was written by Muriel Box and Sydney Box. While it is not quite a documentary, the film depicts the daily routine of women in the police force from three different angles. It was conceived as a female version of the 1950 film The Blue Lamp.

<i>Dancing with Crime</i> 1947 British film by John Paddy Carstairs

Dancing with Crime is a 1947 British film noir film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes and Sheila Sim. A man hunts down the killer of his lifelong friend.

<i>Piccadilly Incident</i> 1946 British film

Piccadilly Incident is a 1946 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Coral Browne, Edward Rigby and Leslie Dwyer. It was written by Nicholas Phipps based on a story by Florence Tranter.

<i>Your Witness</i> (film) 1950 British film by Robert Montgomery

Your Witness is a 1950 British drama film directed by and starring Robert Montgomery, Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer and Andrew Cruickshank. It was released in the U.S. as Eye Witness.

<i>The Last Man to Hang</i> 1956 British film by Terence Fisher

The Last Man to Hang? is a 1956 crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Elizabeth Sellars. It was produced by John Gossage for Act Films Ltd.

<i>The Man Upstairs</i> (1958 film) 1958 British film by Don Chaffey

The Man Upstairs is a 1958 British psychological drama film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Richard Attenborough and Bernard Lee. The film was produced by Robert Dunbar for Act Films Ltd.

<i>Just My Luck</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film by John Paddy Carstairs

Just My Luck is a 1957 British sports comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford, Jill Dixon and Leslie Phillips. It was written by Peter Cusick, Alfred Shaughnessy and Peter Blackmore.

<i>The Man in the Back Seat</i> 1961 British film by Vernon Sewell

The Man in the Back Seat is a 1961 British second feature crime film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner. It was written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice based on an Edgar Wallace story.

<i>Child in the House</i> 1956 British film by Cy Endfield

Child in the House is a 1956 British drama film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Phyllis Calvert, Eric Portman and Stanley Baker. It is based on the novel A Child in the House by Janet McNeill. A girl struggles to cope with her uncaring relatives.

<i>Blackout</i> (1950 film) 1950 British film by Robert S. Baker

Blackout is a 1950 British second feature ('B') crime drama film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Maxwell Reed and Dinah Sheridan. The screenplay was by John Gilling.

<i>Mr. Denning Drives North</i> (novel) 1950 novel

Mr. Denning Drives North is a 1950 thriller novel by the British-Australian writer Alec Coppel. When successful and happily married aircraft manufacturer Tom Denning attempts to commit suicide by crashing a plane, detectives uncover a murder in his past background that has driven him insane with guilt.

References

  1. 1 2 Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p495
  2. ""Mr. Denning Drives North"". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  3. S. W. (18 November 1951). "NOTED ON THE LONDON SCREEN SCENE". New York Times. ProQuest   111773898.
  4. "Film news from Hollywood and London". The Sun . No. 12, 873 (LATE FINAL EXTRA ed.). Sydney. 3 May 1951. p. 40. Retrieved 3 September 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Australian Angles". The Sunday Herald . Sydney. 17 June 1951. p. 12. Retrieved 20 March 2014 via National Library of Australia.
  6. Schallert, Edwin (25 April 1951). "Drama: Milland, Brian, Carter in 'Bugles;' Nat Holt Buys Oceanic Subject". Los Angeles Times. p. A7.
  7. "Patricia returns". The Mail . Adelaide. 16 February 1952. p. 6 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 20 March 2014 via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Mr. Denning Drives North" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . 18 (204): 372. 1 January 1951 via ProQuest.
  9. H. H. T. (2 September 1953). "Movie Review – Mr Denning Drives North – A Cool, British Appraisal of Murder". New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  10. "Mr Denning Drives North". Variety. 26 December 1951. p. 22.
  11. "Mr Denning Drives North". Variety. 9 September 1953. p. 6.
  12. Sproul, K. (17 June 1951). "The coffin corner". The Washington Post. ProQuest   152365227.
  13. Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 684. ISBN   0586088946.
  14. Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 348. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.