Night Beat is a 1947 British Brit noir crime thriller drama film directed by Harold Huth and starring Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed, Ronald Howard, Hector Ross, Christine Norden and Sid James. Following the Second World War, the two comrades go their separate ways; one joins the Metropolitan Police while the other begins a police career but becomes a racketeer in post-war London.[3] Sky Movies described the film as a "British thriller that examines a challenging issue of its times: the problems encountered by servicemen when trying to adjust to civilian life."[4]
| Night Beat | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Song sheet tie-in with Christine Norden | |
| Directed by | Harold Huth |
| Written by | Guy Morgan T. J. Morrison |
| Produced by | Harold Huth |
| Starring | Anne Crawford Maxwell Reed Ronald Howard Hector Ross Christine Norden |
| Cinematography | Václav Vích |
| Edited by | Grace Garland |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
Production companies | Harold Huth Productions British Lion Films |
| Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £175,118[1] |
| Box office | £153,438 (UK)[2] |
Cast
edit- Anne Crawford as Julie Kendall
- Maxwell Reed as Felix Fenton
- Ronald Howard as Andy Kendall
- Christine Norden as Jackie
- Hector Ross as Don Brady
- Fred Groves as PC Kendall
- Sid James as Nixon (as Sidney James)
- Nicholas Stuart as Rocky
- Frederick Leister as Magistrate
- Michael Medwin as Spider
- Robert Cawdron as Police recruit
- Robert Raglan as Detective Sergeant (uncredited)
Box office
editAs of 30 June 1949 the film earned £118,578 in the UK of which £90,028 went to the producer.[1]
Critical reception
editThe Radio Times wrote, "a relishably bad British crime drama set in an unreal Soho underworld of spivs and nightclubs. It's a compendium of clichés...Benjamin Frankel's score is better than the film deserves."[5] Allmovie wrote, "though its starts out strong, Night Beat metamorphoses into standard melodramatics towards the end."[6] Britmovie wrote, "fast-paced British crime melodrama...The two lead actors are particularly wooden and it’s left to the supporting cast to add some lowlife colour; particularly Maxwell Reed’s smug villain, Christine Norden as the vampish blonde, Sid James piano playing snout and a brief appearance by Michael Medwin as an indignant petty crook."[7]
References
edit- ^ a b Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 354
- ^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p486
- ^ "Night Beat". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
- ^ "Night Beat". Find and Watch.
- ^ Allen Eyles. "Night Beat". RadioTimes.
- ^ "Night Beat (1948) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast – AllMovie". AllMovie.
- ^ "Night Beat".
External links
edit- Night Beat at IMDb
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