Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Direction
Losey's camera prowls rooms like it's also searching for truth.
Acting
Redgrave's tremor of desperation in every poured drink.
Editing
Clock-watching cuts that make 88 minutes feel like midnight.
Director
Joseph Losey
Michael Redgrave
David Graham
Ann Todd
Honor Stanford
Leo McKern
Robert Stanford
Paul Daneman
Brian Stanford
Peter Cushing
Jeremy Clayton
Alec McCowen
Alec Graham
Renée Houston
Mrs. Harker
Lois Maxwell
Vickie Harker
Richard Wordsworth
Maxwell - the MP
George Devine
Barnes - the Editor
Joan Plowright
Agnes Cole
Ernest Clark
Under Secretary
Peter Copley
Prison Chaplain
Hugh Moxey
Prison Governor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Losey made this right after being blacklisted in Hollywood; the paranoia about hidden systems of power isn't subtle.
Peter Cushing's small role as the prosecution's doctor came during his Hammer Horror ascent—he's creepier here without monsters.
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