Son of a Stranger

Last updated

Son of a Stranger
Son of a Stranger film frame (1957).jpg
Ann Stephens and James Kenny in a still from the film
Directed by Ernest Morris
Written byStanley Miller
Produced by Edward J. Danziger
Harry Lee Danziger
StarringJames Kenney
Ann Stephens
Victor Maddern
Music by Albert Elms
Release date
  • 1957 (1957)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Son of a Stranger is a 1957 British second feature ('B') [1] film directed by Ernest Morris and starring James Kenney, Ann Stephens and Victor Maddern. [2] [3] It was written by Stanley Miller and produced by The Danzigers.

Contents

Plot

Delinquent slum boy Tom Adams is obsessed that that his unknown father is a rich aristocrat. His mother, dying, refuses to say. Tom goes in search of his father and traces him to a Cornish village, committing murder on the way. He discovers that the local doctor, Delaney, is his father. When Delaney is accidentally shot by his own rifle, Tom is suspected of his murder.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The sheer incredibility of this melodrama in the high Victorian manner holds the attention. The succession of long, static scenes (clearly a low-budget requirement) recalls less ambitious television productions. Nothing is very convincing: the slum girl loses her fight against a Kensington accent, the rock'n'rollers in the squalid club are patently unable to rock'n'roll. It is remarkable that, in the teeth of this ludicrous plot, James Kenney almost succeeds in making the main character convincing." [4]

Picturegoer wrote: "Any tears to spare for a young lout who beats up old women? It's not the fault of James Kenney if you remain dry-eyed through this brutal tear-jerker. He doesn't get much chance to work up sympathy for the neurotic ex-convict, mouldering in a tenement slum with a hate complex for his mother and a half-crazed conviction that his unknown father is a blue-blood. When he goes in search of his inheritance he leaves a messy trail of murder behind. The seamy slumland has a sour sharpness, but the plot is flatly unconvincing. James Kenney, an acutely sensitive actor, and Ann Stephens, as his girl friend, have a thankless task breathing life into this cardboard melodrama." [5]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Squalid, very low budget morality play is ludicrously unconvincing." [6]

References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 138. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Son of a Stranger". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  3. ↑ Son of a Stranger at New York Times
  4. ↑ "Son of a Stranger". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 25 (288): 24. 1 January 1958. ProQuest   1305817811.
  5. ↑ "Son of a Stranger". Picturegoer . 35: 14. 8 February 1958. ProQuest   1771165335.
  6. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 377. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
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.