"Gideon's Day" is one of the best police movies ever made. Set in London, this 1958 film is about a day in the life of a Scotland Yard chief inspector, George Gideon, played superbly by Jack Hawkins. The film is a combination crime-mystery, drama and comedy. The latter is sprinkled throughout very lightly and tastefully. It has a slight feel of some wonderful mystery series films made in the U.S. in the 1930s and 1940s. The best known of those are the Thin Man films that starred William Powell as an ace detective.
Modern audiences since the last quarter of the 20th century -- Americans, especially - have become accustomed to one or two stereotypes of police detectives. One is a rough and tough character, or underworld undercover cop, who's divorced or who lost his wife in an accident or killing. Another is a fast action, martial arts super hero type. Most police mystery or cops and robbers films have been quite unreal. So, it's refreshing to see a police movie about law officers who have families and real lives. Although, in the case of a top investigator, the workdays can often be more hectic and longer than for the regular guys.
I'm not in law enforcement but I've had a few friends who have been police offices, detectives or deputy sheriffs. Their personal and family lives seem much closer to those depicted in this film. And an interesting observation here is that Gideon doesn't tell his family the specifics of any of his encounters during the day. So, when he comes home with a torn sleeve on his suit coat, he says he fell - but he doesn't mention that he tackled a killer who had been shooting at the police and was trying to escape being caught.
I was unaware of this film in the past, and purchased the John Ford Columbia DVD collection specifically for it and one other movie I had not seen. As film critic Leonard Maltin explains in a bonus interview on the film, I saw the full Technicolor movie that had been made and that premiered in England. As Maltin explains, the film that opened in the U.S. three months later had been edited down and released in black and white. For some reason, the Columbia folks didn't think much of it in the U.S. That's too bad, because it is an excellent movie of the "cops and robbers" type that many Americans of the mid-20th century enjoyed.
All of the cast are very good in this film. It's a fast-moving movie with several crimes, a court scene, and investigations taking the time of Chief Inspector Gideon. Anna Lee is very good as his wife, Kate Gideon, and Anna Massey plays his daughter, Sally. Among others with standout performances are Frank Lawton as Det. Sgt. Liggot, Michael Trubshawe as Sergeant Golightly, and Cyril Cusak as Herbert "Birdie" Sparrow. Dianne Foster and Ronald Howard have smaller roles.
The film is based on a book by British novelist John Creasey, who wrote it under a pseudonym, as J.J. Marric. This is a very good look at England's Scotland Yard which is similar to the American FBI. John Ford was taken by the story and made an excellent film. The quality is superb, especially the camera work, filming, editing and sets.
This is an excellent police and crime fighting film for any film library - much more realistic than the rough and tumble or fast and furious adventure type of police and crime films so prevalent since the late 20th century. And, it's more interesting and at least as entertaining. Kudos to Columbia Pictures, John Ford, and Jack Hawkins and the cast of this fine movie.
Modern audiences since the last quarter of the 20th century -- Americans, especially - have become accustomed to one or two stereotypes of police detectives. One is a rough and tough character, or underworld undercover cop, who's divorced or who lost his wife in an accident or killing. Another is a fast action, martial arts super hero type. Most police mystery or cops and robbers films have been quite unreal. So, it's refreshing to see a police movie about law officers who have families and real lives. Although, in the case of a top investigator, the workdays can often be more hectic and longer than for the regular guys.
I'm not in law enforcement but I've had a few friends who have been police offices, detectives or deputy sheriffs. Their personal and family lives seem much closer to those depicted in this film. And an interesting observation here is that Gideon doesn't tell his family the specifics of any of his encounters during the day. So, when he comes home with a torn sleeve on his suit coat, he says he fell - but he doesn't mention that he tackled a killer who had been shooting at the police and was trying to escape being caught.
I was unaware of this film in the past, and purchased the John Ford Columbia DVD collection specifically for it and one other movie I had not seen. As film critic Leonard Maltin explains in a bonus interview on the film, I saw the full Technicolor movie that had been made and that premiered in England. As Maltin explains, the film that opened in the U.S. three months later had been edited down and released in black and white. For some reason, the Columbia folks didn't think much of it in the U.S. That's too bad, because it is an excellent movie of the "cops and robbers" type that many Americans of the mid-20th century enjoyed.
All of the cast are very good in this film. It's a fast-moving movie with several crimes, a court scene, and investigations taking the time of Chief Inspector Gideon. Anna Lee is very good as his wife, Kate Gideon, and Anna Massey plays his daughter, Sally. Among others with standout performances are Frank Lawton as Det. Sgt. Liggot, Michael Trubshawe as Sergeant Golightly, and Cyril Cusak as Herbert "Birdie" Sparrow. Dianne Foster and Ronald Howard have smaller roles.
The film is based on a book by British novelist John Creasey, who wrote it under a pseudonym, as J.J. Marric. This is a very good look at England's Scotland Yard which is similar to the American FBI. John Ford was taken by the story and made an excellent film. The quality is superb, especially the camera work, filming, editing and sets.
This is an excellent police and crime fighting film for any film library - much more realistic than the rough and tumble or fast and furious adventure type of police and crime films so prevalent since the late 20th century. And, it's more interesting and at least as entertaining. Kudos to Columbia Pictures, John Ford, and Jack Hawkins and the cast of this fine movie.