The Girl in the Picture (1957 film)

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The Girl in the Picture
The Girl in the Picture (1957 film).jpg
Opening title
Directed by Don Chaffey
Written byPaul Ryder
Produced byTed Lloyd
Starring Donald Houston
CinematographyIan Struthers
Edited byDavid C. Withers
Production
company
Cresswell Productions
Distributed by Eros Films
Release date
  • January 1957 (1957-01)
Running time
63 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Girl in the Picture is a 1957 British second feature [1] crime film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Donald Houston and Patrick Holt. [2] It was written by Paul Ryder.

Contents

Plot

A photograph submitted to a newspaper for a competition attracts the attention of crime reporter Jon Deering. It shows the getaway car used in a robbery which led to the unsolved murder of a policeman, and a glamorous woman waving to the car's driver. Deering undertakes to find the woman, believing she may hold the key to the killer's identity. However, the murderer is also alerted and attempts to silence the girl in the picture.

Cast

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Though in genre, format and content this second-feature crime thriller is conventional, there is a brightness about both the script and performance which raises it a little above the average of its kind." [3]

Kine Weekly said "Handy-sized thriller, set in London. It concerns a crime reporter who solves a mysterious murder and prevents the culprit from committing flm another. There is nothing subtle about its plot, but its leading players, happily blessed with a sense of humour, manage to hold the interest and put a kick into its in-the-nick-of-time climax." [4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Straightfoward, old-hat crime stuff, but brightly pushed along." [5]

TV Guide called the film "Enjoyable but familiar," and rated it 2/5 stars. [6]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Probably best known for his work at Disney in the 1960s, director Don Chaffey was still cutting his teeth on British B-movies when he completed this lacklustre thriller. ... As mysteries go, this is on the elementary side." [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 139. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "The Girl in the Picture". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Girl in the Picture". Monthly Film Bulletin . 24 (276): 18. 1957 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "The Girl in the Picture". Kine Weekly . 477 (2578): 18. 10 January 1957 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 315. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  6. ↑ "The Girl In The Picture | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 365. ISBN   9780992936440.


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