Once a Sinner (1950 film)

Last updated

Once a Sinner
Once a Sinner FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Written by David Evans
Produced by John Argyle
Starring Pat Kirkwood
Jack Watling
Cinematography Len Harris
Frank North
Edited by Lister Laurance
Music by Ronald Binge
Distributed by Butcher's Film Service (UK)
Hoffberg Productions (USA)
Release date
  • July 1950 (1950-07)(UK)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Once a Sinner is a 1950 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Pat Kirkwood, Jack Watling and Joy Shelton. [1] It was written by David Evans.

Contents

Plot

Bank clerk John Ross falls for good-time girl Irene and ends his relationship with his fiancee Vera. Irene leaves her lover Jimmy Smart, a crook who has been passing forged bank notes, and although at first she tries to discourage John, they are quickly married. They soon find that Irene does not get along with John's middle-class parents and friends, and he is questioned by Inspector Rance and his manager at the bank over a counterfeit bank note he failed to spot; he realises that Irene is passing over Smart's counterfeit bank notes to her father and others.

When John finally insists on meeting Irene's mother he is taken aback by her hostility towards her own daughter, but he learns that Irene has a child by her former lover, Jimmy.

John tells her it's over between them and Irene reluctantly goes back to Jimmy and they move to London. A few weeks later, when John's father gives him his letters from Irene which his mother had tried to hide from him, John realises he still wants Irene and he sets off to find her.

The actual counterfeiter, a man called Charlie, lives in the room opposite Jimmy and Irene and she finds out that he actually makes the notes. Charlie arranges to have Jimmy killed and although he manages to kill one of his attackers Charlie is shot and fatally wounded.

John arrives and persuades Irene to go with him and they decide they will try to make a life together in a new place, away from his disapproving family and friends. However, on the train back to town Irene sees Inspector Rance on the train and decides that John would be better off without her, and throws herself from the moving train.

Before John realises what has happened, Inspector Rance comes into his carriage and tells him that Irene is in the clear over the bank notes.

Cast

Critical reception

In contemporary reviews Kine Weekly wrote: "Pat Kirkwood not only looks and acts the part as the streamlined Irene, Jack Watling registers in the unrewarding role of John, and Sidney Tafler is the most promising of the supporting players. ... The film rattles along at a brisk pace, but much of it is sordid and its unhappy ending fails to ring true." [2] ; The Monthly Film Bulletin said: "Superficial melodrama." [3] Variety wrote: “In an effort to prove that the upper-class gentry should not mingle with the lower strata, this turns out to be a very thin English effort. It's all told implausibly. The pic carries a certain amount of wallop when It goes sexy, but even this sometimes becomes stilted. Miss Kirkwood supplies the sex lure In a neat flamboyant package. ... Lewis Gilbert's direction seldom is convincing." [4]

Leslie Halliwell called the film: "an uninteresting character melodrama which defeats its lightweight stars." [5]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as “average” and wrote: “Kirkwood surprisingly good in straight role, but film lacks basic credibility.'' [6]

Allmovie wrote: "The magnificent Thora Hird steals the show in Once a Sinner as the fickle Irene's slatternly mother." [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Consuming Passions</i> British film

Consuming Passions is a 1988 black comedy film which stars Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce, and Sammi Davis and was directed by Giles Foster. The film is based on Secrets by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, a BBC television play broadcast in 1973.

<i>A Kind of Loving</i> (film) 1962 British film by John Schlesinger

A Kind of Loving is a 1962 British kitchen sink drama film directed by John Schlesinger, starring Alan Bates and June Ritchie. It was written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Stan Barstow which was later adapted into the 1982 television series A Kind of Loving. The film tells the story of two lovers in early 1960s Lancashire. It belongs to the British New Wave movement.

<i>Term of Trial</i> 1962 British film by Peter Glenville

Term of Trial is a 1962 British drama film written and directed by Peter Glenville and starring Laurence Olivier, Simone Signoret, Sarah Miles, Terence Stamp, Hugh Griffith, Roland Culver, Dudley Foster and Thora Hird. It was produced by James Woolf for Romulus Films, with James H. Ware as associate producer. The screenplay was based on the 1961 novel of the same name by James Barlow. The music score was by Jean-Michel Damase and the cinematography by Oswald Morris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Shelton</span> British actress (1922–2000)

Joy Winstanley Shelton was an English actress who performed in films, radio and television.

<i>Lost</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film directed by Guy Green

Lost is a 1956 British thriller film directed by Guy Green and starring David Farrar, David Knight and Julia Arnall. It was written by Janet Green. It is set in 1950s London, and revolves around the apparent kidnapping of a young couple's baby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald James Marsh</span> English author (1914–1987)

Ronald James Marsh, was an English writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Tafler</span> British actor (1916–1979)

Sydney Tafler was an English actor who after having started his career on stage, was best remembered for numerous appearances in films and television from the 1940s to the 1970s.

<i>The Sandwich Man</i> (1966 film) 1966 British film by Robert Hartford-Davis

The Sandwich Man is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis starring Michael Bentine, with support from a cast of British character actors including Dora Bryan, Harry H. Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Diana Dors, Norman Wisdom, Terry-Thomas and Ian Hendry. It was written by Hartford-Davis and Bentine.

<i>Emergency Call</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film by Lewis Gilbert

Emergency Call, released in the US as The Hundred Hour Hunt, is a 1952 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Jack Warner, Anthony Steel, Joy Shelton and Sid James. It was written by Gilbet and Vernon Harris, and distributed by Butcher's Film Service. The film was a noted success compared to its small budget and helped establish Gilbert as a director. It was remade in 1962 as Emergency.

<i>Follow a Star</i> 1959 British film by Robert Asher

Follow a Star is a 1959 British black and white comedy musical film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom, June Laverick and Jerry Desmonde. It was written by Henry Blyth, Jack Davies and Wisdom.

<i>The Galloping Major</i> (film) 1951 film by Henry Cornelius

The Galloping Major is a 1951 British comedy sports film, starring Basil Radford, Jimmy Hanley and Janette Scott. It also featured Sid James, Charles Hawtrey and Joyce Grenfell in supporting roles. It was directed by Henry Cornelius and made at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. The film's sets were designed by Norman Arnold.

<i>Boys in Brown</i> 1949 British film y Montgomery Tully

Boys in Brown is a 1949 black and white British drama film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Jack Warner, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Jimmy Hanley. It was written by Tully based on the 1940 play Boys in Brown by the actor Reginald Beckwith.

<i>They Came to a City</i> 1944 British film by Basil Dearden

They Came to a City is a 1944 British black-and-white film directed by Basil Dearden and starring John Clements, Googie Withers, Raymond Huntley, Renee Gadd and A. E. Matthews. It was adapted from the 1943 play of the same title by J. B. Priestley, and is notable for including a cameo appearance by Priestley as himself.

<i>Once a Jolly Swagman</i> 1949 British film by Jack Lee

Once a Jolly Swagman is a 1949 British film starring Dirk Bogarde, Bonar Colleano, Bill Owen, Thora Hird and Sid James. It was written by William Rose and Jack Lee, based on the 1944 novel of the same title by Montagu Slater.

<i>Jigsaw</i> (1962 film) 1962 British film by Val Guest

Jigsaw is a 1962 British black and white crime film directed by Val Guest and starring Jack Warner and Ronald Lewis. The screenplay was by Guest based on the 1959 police procedural novel Sleep Long, My Love by Hillary Waugh, with the setting changed from the fictional small town of Stockford, Connecticut, to Brighton, Sussex, while retaining the names and basic natures of its two police protagonists and most of the other characters.

<i>These Dangerous Years</i> 1957 British film by Herbert Wilcox

These Dangerous Years is a 1957 British drama musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring George Baker, Frankie Vaughan, Carole Lesley, Thora Hird, Kenneth Cope, David Lodge and John Le Mesurier. It was written by Jack Trevor Story, and was the first of three films Wilcox made with Vaughan.

<i>Sailor Beware!</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Gordon Parry

Sailor Beware! is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Peggy Mount, Shirley Eaton and Ronald Lewis. It was written by Philip King and Falkland Cary adapted from their 1955 stage play of the same name. It was released in the United States by Distributors Corporation of America in 1957 as Panic in the Parlor.

<i>The Weaker Sex</i> (1948 film) 1948 film

The Weaker Sex is a 1948 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ursula Jeans, Cecil Parker and Joan Hopkins. It was written by Esther McCracken, Paul Soskin and Val Valentine based on McCracken's 1944 play No Medals.

<i>Wide Boy</i> (film) 1952 British film by Ken Hughes

Wide Boy is a 1952 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Susan Shaw, Sydney Tafler and Ronald Howard.

<i>Mrs. Pym of Scotland Yard</i> 1939 British film

Mrs. Pym of Scotland Yard is a 1939 British comedy-drama film directed by Fred Elles starring Mary Clare in her only title role and Nigel Patrick in his film debut. It is based on the Mrs Pym novels by Nigel Morland, and written by Morland, who re-used the title for a 1946 book.

References

  1. ↑ "Once a Sinner". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Battle Beneath the Earth". Kine Weekly . 401 (2256): 34. 27 July 1950.
  3. ↑ "One a Sinner". Monthly Film Bulletin . 17 (193): 120. 1 January 1950.
  4. ↑ "Once a Sinner". Variety . 185: 28. 18 February 1952.
  5. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 755. ISBN   0-586-08894-6.
  6. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 356. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  7. ↑ "Once a Sinner (1952) - Lewis Gilbert | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.