The Broken Horseshoe (film)

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The Broken Horseshoe
"The Broken Horseshoe" (1953).jpg
Original Australian daybill
Directed byMartyn C. Webster
Written byA.R. Rawlinson
Based onthe television serial by Francis Durbridge
Produced by Ernest G. Roy
Starring Robert Beatty
Elizabeth Sellars
Cinematography Gerald Gibbs
Edited byJoseph Sterling
Music by Wilfred Burns
Production
company
Distributed by Butcher's Film Service
Release date
  • 1953 (1953)(UK)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Language English

The Broken Horseshoe is a 1953 British "B" crime film directed by Martyn C. Webster and starring Robert Beatty, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter Coke, and Hugh Kelly. [1] It was based on a BBC television series of the same title from the previous year. [2] A surgeon is drawn into a murder case.

Contents

Plot

A hit-and-run victim is operated on by Dr Fenton, but the patient is later murdered, and the doctor finds himself the prime suspect. The mysterious Della, connected to a horse-doping ring, falls for the doctor and helps him clear his name and expose the villains.

Cast

Critical reception

Kine Weekly said "The shrewdly chosen leading players neatly handle the bizarre plot, and their alert team work, amplified by a wide variety of appropriate and realistic backgrounds, leads to an intriguing amalgam of sentiment and homicide. Loose ends are securely tied at the finish, and there is no lack of surprise. Good average British thriller." [3]

Monthly Film Bulletin said "a competently made little thriller, convincing at the time, although some loose ends are left. An amusing character part is played by Vida Hope." [4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Rare coincidence of director, writer (Durbridge) and star (Peter Coke) from radio's famous Paul Temple series. But thriller is fairly ordinary." [5]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote: "Some brisk direction ensured that the film rose above the average supporting mystery thriller." [6]

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References

  1. ↑ "The Broken Horseshoe". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "1950's British TV and Radio Snippets - Fifties Drama Serials".
  3. ↑ "The Broken Horseshoe". Kine Weekly . 435 (2400): 21. 25 June 1953 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "The Broken Horseshoe". Monthly Film Bulletin . 20 (228): 121. 1 January 1953 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 288. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  6. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 65. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
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