Murder in Soho

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Murder in Soho
Murder in Soho.jpg
Directed by Norman Lee
Screenplay by F. McGrew Willis
Produced by Walter C. Mycroft
Starring
Cinematography Claude Friese-Greene
Edited by Edward B. Jarvis
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by Associated British Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • February 1939 (1939-02)(UK)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£25,577 [1]

Murder in Soho (U.S. title: Murder in the Night. [2] ) is a 1939 British crime film directed by Norman Lee and starring Jack La Rue, Sandra Storme, Googie Withers and Bernard Lee. [3] [4] The screenplay was by F. McGrew Willis. It concerns a murder in the Central London district of Soho.

Contents

Plot

Club owner Steve Marco is a criminal club-owner with social aspirations. After a murder in his club he shoots an accomplice who tries to double-cross him. Inspector Hammond investigates and solves the case with the help of one of the club's hostesses.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A film which starts off with a certain amount of promise and speed but does not keep it up for long enough. The Inspector's interviews with the witnesses are incredibly incompetent, and as the identity of the murderer is known to the audience very carly in the film no mystery survives to sustain the interest. Jack La Rue and Sandra Storme are good to look upon, though the acting of the latter is sometimes wooden and unconvincing. Martin Walker introduces a certain amount of laconic humour as the Inspector." [5]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Familiar 'quickie' nightclub thriller." [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Chapman, Llewella. "'The highest salary ever paid to a human being': Creating a Database of Film Costs from the Bank of England". Journal of British cinema and television, 2022-10. Vol. 19, no. 4. Edinburgh University Press. p. 470-494 at 480.
  2. ↑ "Murder in the Night (1939) - Norman Lee | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  3. ↑ "Murder in Soho". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  4. ↑ "Murder in Soho (1939)". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Murder in Soho" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . 6 (61): 40. 1 January 1939 – via ProQuest.
  6. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 117. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
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