The plot in this curiosity is simple enough. A cinema usherette is murdered immediately following a dalliance with the cinema manager and with the killer on the loose, we follow the police attempts to catch the person responsible and a newspaper's (ironically The News of the World) efforts to get the story. Some attempt was made to make a kind of semi-documentary out it (rolling printing presses etc) but I suspect it was hoped to deflect from the plot's deficiencies.
I'm really not sure why this film was ever made. It was released in 1947 when British Cinema was perfectly capable of making professional and entertaining films but this film is neither of those things. It looks and feels as though it was made at the dawn of talking pictures with some stilted performances, erratic editing and simplistic storyline.
There are some faults in the actual physical quality of the film but I'm not criticising those because this is obviously a rarity that must have been rescued from the darkest corners of Renown's vaults and if you are like me, curiosity means you must watch it for your own satisfaction.
So – accept this film purely as a rare curiosity and nothing more. However it is notable for one thing. The sharp-eyed viewer will see the very first screen appearance of the great British character actor John Le Mesurier. His first film is often quoted as being DEATH IN THE HAND from 1948 but he appears here as a newspaper employee called into his editor's office and has one line to speak.
I'm really not sure why this film was ever made. It was released in 1947 when British Cinema was perfectly capable of making professional and entertaining films but this film is neither of those things. It looks and feels as though it was made at the dawn of talking pictures with some stilted performances, erratic editing and simplistic storyline.
There are some faults in the actual physical quality of the film but I'm not criticising those because this is obviously a rarity that must have been rescued from the darkest corners of Renown's vaults and if you are like me, curiosity means you must watch it for your own satisfaction.
So – accept this film purely as a rare curiosity and nothing more. However it is notable for one thing. The sharp-eyed viewer will see the very first screen appearance of the great British character actor John Le Mesurier. His first film is often quoted as being DEATH IN THE HAND from 1948 but he appears here as a newspaper employee called into his editor's office and has one line to speak.