Murder at 3am
1953 film by Francis Searle
- July 1953 (1953-07) (UK)
Running time
Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British crime film second feature[1]: 172 directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner.[2] A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.
Plot
There have been a series of attacks on women walking home in the early hours, and now a woman has been found murdered. Chief Inspector Peter Lawton investigates. His suspicion falls on Edward King, an ex-commando who is engaged to Lawton's sister Joan. He uses Joan to trap King, but King flees. It transpires that King is innocent; the killer is his half-brother Jim.
Cast
- Dennis Price as Chief Inspector Peter Lawton
- Peggy Evans as Joan Lawton
- Rex Garner as Detective Sergeant Todd
- Arnold Bell as Assistant Commissioner McMann
- Greta Mayaro as Lena
- Philip Saville as Edward 'Teddy' King/Jim King
- Leonard Sharp as Old Skip
- Nora Gordon as Nanna
- Renee Goddard as Lady Branstead
- Arthur Lovegrove as Inspector Cobb
- Daphne Maddox as victim
- Robert Weeden as CID constable
- John Davis as transmitting constable (uncredited)
Critical reception
Kine Weekly said "The exuberant, if somewhat lurid and extravagent, yarn unfolds again bright night-club and realistic nocturnal London street scenes which cunningly create an illusion of scope. For its size it carries quite a kick. ";[3] Monthly Film Bulletin said "A second-rate thriller, unimaginatively directed; the cast attempts to make something out of the too-familiar dialogue and situations."[4]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Shabby 'B' feature, tiresomely made"[5]
To-Day's Cinema called it an "efficient specimen" of the crime thriller.[1]
References
- ^ a b Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2018) [2009]. The British 'B' Film. London and New York City: Bloomsbury/BFI. p. 152. ISBN 9781844575749.
- ^ "Murder at 3 a.m." British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "Murder at 3 a.m." Kine Weekly. 436 (2403): 22. 16 July 1953 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Murder at 3 a.m." Monthly Film Bulletin. 20 (228): 135. 1 January 1953 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 349. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
External links
- Murder at 3am at IMDb
- Murder at 3 a.m. at ReelStreets
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Films directed by Francis Searle
- A Girl in a Million (1946)
- Things Happen at Night (1947)
- Celia (1949)
- The Man in Black (1949)
- The Lady Craved Excitement (1950)
- Someone at the Door (1950)
- A Case for PC 49 (1951)
- Cloudburst (1951)
- The Rossiter Case (1951)
- Love's a Luxury (1952)
- Never Look Back (1952)
- Whispering Smith Hits London (1952)
- Murder at 3am (1953)
- Wheel of Fate (1953)
- Profile (1954)
- One Way Out (1955)
- The Gelignite Gang (1956)
- Undercover Girl (1958)
- Murder at Site 3 (1959)
- Trouble with Eve (1960)
- Ticket to Paradise (1961)
- Freedom to Die (1961)
- Emergency (1962)
- Dead Man's Evidence (1962)
- Gaolbreak (1962)
- Night of the Prowler (1962)
- The Marked One (1963)
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