The Whole Truth | |
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Directed by | John Guillermin |
Produced by | Jack Clayton |
Written by | Jonathan Latimer |
Based on | play The Whole Truth by Philip Mackie |
Starring | Stewart Granger Donna Reed George Sanders Gianna Maria Canale |
Music by | Mischa Spoliansky |
Cinematography | Wilkie Cooper |
Edited by | Gerry Hambling |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | 392,806 admissions (France) [1] |
The Whole Truth is a 1958 British thriller film directed by John Guillermin and starring Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Donna Reed, Gianna Maria Canale and Peter Dyneley. [2] It was based on the 1955 play of the same title by Philip Mackie.
It was made at Walton Studios with some brief location shooting in France. The film's sets were designed by the art director Anthony Masters.
While making a film on the French Riviera, the producer Max Poulton has been having an affair with his star, Gina Bertini. A married man, Max does not want to lose his wife Carol, but the hot-tempered Gina threatens to tell all.
Max comes home with a blood stain on his shirt cuff. A visit follows from an Inspector Carliss of Scotland Yard, who says Gina's body has just been found, stabbed to death.
Rushing to the house where he and Gina used to secretly meet, Max gathers up possessions he's left behind. A neighbor spots his car. Upon returning home, to a party Carol is hosting, Max is astounded to find Gina alive and well among the guests.
Confused, he drives her home, leaves her in the car briefly, then returns to find her lifeless body, once again stabbed. Max thinks he must be losing his mind. This time a local police official, Inspector Simon, comes to call. The only conclusion Max can draw is that Carliss is somehow trying to frame him.
His suspicions are correct. Carliss is not a Scotland Yard inspector at all but Gina's jealous ex-husband. He has arranged things to make Max appear guilty, and Simon, having the neighbor's eyewitness description of seeing Max's car, has little choice but to place Max under arrest.
When it looks as though Carliss intends to harm Carol as well, Max escapes from jail. He manipulates Carliss into stealing his own car, and when the police give chase to the wrong man, Carliss, in a panic, drives off a cliff to his death. Max's innocence becomes apparent to the police.
Philip Mackie's 90-minute play debuted on television, airing on the BBC in July 1955. The TV play was screened again in 1956. [3] Stephen Harrison directed.
It was then turned into a stage play which was presented by Henry Sherek in London in October 1955 starring Leslie Philips. [4]
Reviewing it Kenneth Tynan said the first two acts were "the tautest puzzle play since Dial M for Murder " but did not like the ending. [5]
The US rights and film rights were bought by Gilbert Miller in January 1956. [6]
The film was made by Romulus Productions. Stewart Granger had just finished his contract with MGM and signed a two-picture deal with Romulus, of which The Whole Truth was to be the first; the second was to be The Night Comers from a novel by Eric Ambler and co-starring Jean Simmons. [7] [8] (This movie was never made.)
Jeanne Crain was originally announced as the female lead. [9] However Donna Reed ended up playing it. George Sanders joined the cast in July 1957. [10]
Filming started in London on 16 September 1957. [10]
Romulus later announced they offered Stewart Granger a six-picture contract worth $1.5 million. [11] However he made no more films for that company.[ citation needed ]
Filmink praised the "brilliant first half". [12]
Stewart Granger was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.
George Henry Sanders was a British film and television actor, singer-songwriter, music composer, and author. His career as an actor spanned over forty years. His upper-class English accent and bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous characters. He is perhaps best known as Jack Favell in Rebecca (1940), Scott ffolliott in Foreign Correspondent, The Saran of Gaza in Samson and Delilah (1949), the most popular film of the year, Addison DeWitt in All About Eve, Sir Brian De Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe (1952), King Richard the Lionheart in King Richard and the Crusaders (1954), Mr. Freeze in a two-parter episode of Batman (1966), the voice of the malevolent man-hating tiger Shere Khan in Disney's The Jungle Book (1967), the suave crimefighter The Falcon during the 1940s, and Simon Templar, The Saint, in five films made in the 1930s and 1940s.
William Joseph Schallert was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and movies over a career that spanned more than 60 years.
John Gregson was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his comedy roles.
Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960. Gordon Scott was the eleventh Tarzan, starting with Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955). He was "discovered" poolside, and offered "a seven-year contract, a loin cloth, and a new last name."
Peter Dyneley was a British actor. Although he appeared in many smaller roles in both film and television, he is best remembered for supplying the voice of Jeff Tracy for the 1960s "Supermarionation" TV series Thunderbirds and its two film sequels, Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968), all produced by Gerry Anderson. Uncredited, Dyneley also provided the voice of the countdown that introduces the Thunderbirds title sequence.
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The Whole Truth may refer to:
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The Whole Truth is a 1955 thriller play by the British writer Philip Mackie.