Murder at 3am | |
---|---|
Directed by | Francis Searle |
Written by | John Ainsworth Moie Charles (additional dialogue) |
Story by | John Ainsworth |
Produced by | John Ainsworth David Henley |
Starring | Dennis Price Peggy Evans Rex Garner |
Cinematography | S.D. Onions |
Edited by | Adam Dawson |
Music by | Eric Spear |
Production companies | David Henley Productions Renown Pictures Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 60 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British crime film second feature[1]: 172 directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner.[2] A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.
There have been a series of attacks on women walking home in the early hours, and now a woman has been found murdered. Chief Inspector Peter Lawton investigates. His suspicion falls on Edward King, an ex-commando who is engaged to Lawton's sister Joan. He uses Joan to trap King, but King flees. It transpires that King is innocent; the killer is his half-brother Jim.
Kine Weekly said "The exuberant, if somewhat lurid and extravagent, yarn unfolds again bright night-club and realistic nocturnal London street scenes which cunningly create an illusion of scope. For its size it carries quite a kick. ";[3] Monthly Film Bulletin said "A second-rate thriller, unimaginatively directed; the cast attempts to make something out of the too-familiar dialogue and situations."[4]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Shabby 'B' feature, tiresomely made"[5]
To-Day's Cinema called it an "efficient specimen" of the crime thriller.[1]