Subway in the Sky

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Subway in the Sky
"Subway in the Sky" (1959).jpg
British quad poster
Directed by Muriel Box
Written byJack Andrews
Based onstage play by Ian Main
Produced by Sydney Box
Patrick Filmer-Sankey
John Temple-Smith
Starring Van Johnson
Hildegard Knef
Cinematography Wilkie Cooper
Edited by Jean Barker
Music by Mario Nascimbene
Production
company
Orbit Films
Distributed by British Lion Films
Release date
  • 22 February 1959 (1959-02-22)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Subway in the Sky is a 1959 British crime film directed by Muriel Box and starring Van Johnson, Hildegard Knef and Albert Lieven. [1] [2] It was written by Jack Andrews based on the 1957 play of the same title by Ian Main. Knef, who changed career in the 1960s to become a cabaret singer and songwriter, sings one song in the film, "It Isn't Love" (Jeff Davis/Geoffrey Parsons). [1] [3]

Contents

Plot

Baxter Grant, an American soldier in West Berlin, deserts and goes on the run when faced with false drug trafficking and murder charges. He takes shelter with cabaret singer Lilli Hoffman, whom he manages to persuade to help prove his innocence.

Cast

Production

The film was shot at Shepperton Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director George Provis.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Although the cast, especially Cec Linder, perform with admirable seriousness, it remains extremely difficult to accept the highly unlikely characters and events of this smooth slice of romantic melodrama, served rather better by its sets and photography than the subject merits." [4]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Tedious photographed play with precious few points of dramatic interest." [5]

Leonard Maltin gave the film one and a half out of four stars, calling it a "flabby caper," regarding it a "terrible waste of (Hildegard) Neff's talents". [6]

Tony Sloman gave it three out of five stars in the Radio Times , calling it, "a film that wasn't highly regarded on its release, but thanks to its cast, subject matter and director bears re-evaluation today. (It) features two particularly watchable stars, both of whom have done better work than this. Ageing bobby-sox idol Van Johnson is a better actor than is generally acknowledged; he had a propensity for worried, introverted heroes... The director is Muriel Box, one of the few English women directors to have had a successful screen career, though here she struggles to keep the stage origins of the material hidden. Wilkie Cooper's stark black-and-white photography is excellent." [7]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "successful play makes mild, stagey movie." [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Subway in the Sky". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Subway in the Sky (1958)". BFI. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Subway In The Sky". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Subway in the Sky" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . Vol. 26, no. 300. 1 January 1959. p. 36 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 973. ISBN   0586088946.
  6. ↑ "Subway in the Sky (1959) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  7. ↑ Tony Sloman. "Subway in the Sky". RadioTimes.
  8. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 382. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
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