The Lost Hours

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The Lost Hours
The Lost Hours film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by David MacDonald
Written by Steve Fisher
John Gilling
Story by Robert S. Baker
Carl Nystrom
Produced byRobert S. Baker
Monty Berman
Starring Mark Stevens
Jean Kent
John Bentley
CinematographyMonty Berman
Edited by Reginald Beck
Music byWilliam Hill-Bowen
Production
company
Distributed by Eros Films (UK)
RKO Radio Pictures (US)
Release date
  • September 1952 (1952-09)
Running time
67 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Lost Hours (also known as The Big Frame) is a 1952 British second feature ('B') [1] film noir directed by David MacDonald and starring Mark Stevens, Jean Kent and John Bentley. [2] [3] [4] It was written by Steve Fisher and John Gilling. It was produced by Tempean Films which specialised in making second features at the time, and marked Kent's first "descent", as Chibnall and McFarlane put it, [1] into B films after her 1940s stardom. It was released in the United States in 1953 by RKO Pictures.

Contents

Plot summary

An American returns for a reunion in the United Kingdom, where he served as a pilot during the Second World War, but finds himself framed for a murder he didn't commit.

Cast

Production

It was shot at Isleworth Studios and on location around London, [5] [6] with sets designed by the art director Andrew Mazzei.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An undistinguished British thriller made with more than one eye on the American B picture market, The Lost Hours has its full share of improbabilities of character and action. The actors can make little of their roles, which is certainly a waste of Mark Stevens, who seems rather tired and bored throughout. A thriller on the most superficial level can still be exciting, but The Lost Hours is not even this." [7]

Kine Weekly wrote: The plot is ingenious and the accomplished cast, headed by a transatlantic star, and resourceful director, backed up by convincing atmosphere, see that there is no lack of suspense. It holds with a steady grip from themoment it opens until it arrives at its traditional nick-of-time finale." [8]

Variety wrote: "The Big Frame ... is a hackneyed murder melodrama. ... It wends an obscure course among stock whodunit situations." [9]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "This is one of director David MacDonald's least distinguished ventures, being another of the dreaded quota quickies in which a third-rate Hollywood star gets to play the lead in a threadbare crime story, notable for the cheapness of the sets, the dismal dialogue and the eagerness of the supporting cast." [10]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Quite fast-moving; script and acting undistinghuished." [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 86. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "The Lost Hours". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. ↑ The Lost Hours at the BFI Database
  4. ↑ "The Big Frame (1952) - David MacDonald | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  5. ↑ "Denham Studios". BFI. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Reelstreets | Lost Hours, The (aka The Big Frame)". www.reelstreets.com.
  7. ↑ "The Lost Hours" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . 19 (216): 129. 1 January 1952 – via ProQuest.
  8. ↑ "The Lost Hours" . Kine Weekly . 425 (2354): 16. 7 August 1952 – via ProQuest.
  9. ↑ "The Lost Hours" . Variety . 190 (2): 6. 18 March 1953 – via ProQuest.
  10. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 560. ISBN   9780992936440.
  11. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 340. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
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