The October Man
| The October Man | |
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| File:October Man poster.jpg
theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Roy Ward Baker |
| Produced by | Eric Ambler |
| Written by | Eric Ambler (novel and screenplay) |
| Starring | John Mills Joan Greenwood |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography | Erwin Hillier |
| Edited by | Alan Jaggs |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) Eagle-Lion Films (US) |
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Release dates
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28 August 1947 (London) 15 April 1948 (NYC) 20 May 1948 (US gen'l) |
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Running time
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95–110 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The October Man is a 1947 mystery film/film noir starring John Mills and Joan Greenwood, written by novelist Eric Ambler, who also produced. A man is suspected of murder, and due to the lingering effects of a brain injury sustained in an earlier accident and after intense police investigation, he himself begins to doubt whether he is innocent or not.
Plot
When a bus crashes due to faulty steering, passenger Jim Ackland (John Mills) sustains a serious brain injury and a young girl under his care is killed. Guilt ridden, he attempts suicide twice during his recovery.
He starts a new job as an industrial chemist and gets a room in a hotel. When he reluctantly accepts an invitation for a night out, he meets Jenny Carden (Joan Greenwood), the sister of his co-worker, Harry (Patrick Holt). They begin seeing each other quite regularly. Things reach the point where he confesses he wants to marry her, but he tells her he wants to be sure he has fully recovered first.
Molly Newman (Kay Walsh), one of the other hotel residents, asks to borrow £30 from him, a rather substantial sum. As he doesn't have that much on him, Jim good-naturedly writes her a cheque. She is found strangled the next night. Wilcox (Jack Melford), the married businessman Molly had been seeing, has an alibi. Jim admits to have been walking in the vicinity of the murder site; that plus the cheque and his head injury make him the prime suspect. Police Inspector Godby (Frederick Piper) suspects he was another of Molly's boyfriends and that, after falling in love with Jenny, he wanted to rid himself of a possible blackmailer.
When Jim learns that Mr. Peachy, the person who lived in the room directly below Molly's, had told the police that Jim was in her room every night, Jim confronts him in his room. Peachy brazenly admits killing Molly, confident that there is no evidence against him. Peachy had regularly given her money; when Jim made her a loan, it had given rise to an insane jealousy, with fatal results.
Jim goes to the police, but they do not believe him. When they come to take him into custody, Jim flees. He follows Peachy to Paddington Station, then discovers from a tag on Peachy's luggage that he intends to flee the country by plane. He phones Godby with the flight information, but when that has no effect, contemplates suicide again. Fortunately, a letter Molly had posted to Wilcox just before her death incriminates Peachy. Jenny finds Jim and gives him the good news.
Cast
- John Mills as Jim Ackland
- Joan Greenwood as Jenny Carden
- Edward Chapman as Mr. Peachy
- Kay Walsh as Molly Newman
- Joyce Carey as Mrs. Vinton, a shrewish hotel resident
- Catherine Lacey as Miss Selby, the hotel manageress
- Patrick Holt as Harry Carden
- Felix Aylmer as Dr. Martin
- Frederick Piper as Detective Inspector Godby
- John Boxer as Detective Sergeant Troth
- George Benson as Mr. Pope, a sympathetic hotel resident
- Jack Melford as Wilcox
- Adrianne Allen as Joyce Carden
- Esme Beringer as Miss Heap
- Ann Wilton as Miss Parsons
- James Hayter as Garage man
- Sid James as uncredited man who bumps into Ackland when he first arrives at Brockenhurst Common
Cast notes:
- John Mills' daughter, Juliet Mills, plays the part of the young child who is killed in a bus accident at the beginning of the film. She was five years old at the time, and it was her third film appearance.[1]
Production
Director Roy Ward Baker was an assistant director for Alfred Hitchcock on The Lady Vanishes (1938), while cinematographer Erwin Hillier had performed the same function for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger on I Know Where I'm Going (1945).[2] The film was made at Denham Studio in Buckinghamshire, England, and location shooting was done at Paddington Station in London.[3]
Reception
In his New York Times review, Bosley Crowther called it a "second rate film" with "a first-rate actor [John Mills]...surrounded by a generally competent cast".[4] In general, though, the film received good critical notices.[2]
Notes
- ↑ Juliet Mills at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rob Nixon "The October Man" (TCM article)
- ↑ IMDB Filming lcoations
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
