Night Beat (1947 film)
Night Beat is a 1947 British Brit-noir, crime thriller drama film directed by Harold Huth and starring Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed, Ronald Howard, Christine Norden and Sid James. Following the Second World War, 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.[2]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."[3]
Night Beat | |
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Song sheet tie-in with Christine Norden | |
Directed by | Harold Huth |
Produced by | Harold Huth |
Written by | Guy Morgan T. J. Morrison |
Starring | Anne Crawford Maxwell Reed Ronald Howard Christine Norden |
Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
Cinematography | Václav Vích |
Edited by | Grace Garland |
Production company | Harold Huth Productions British Lion Films |
Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation (UK) |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | £153,438 (UK)[1] |
Cast
- 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
Critical reception
The 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."[4] Allmovie wrote, "though its starts out strong, Night Beat metamorphoses into standard melodramatics towards the end."[5] 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."[6]
References
- Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p486
- "Night Beat". BFI. 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".