Girl in the News (1940)

Nurse Anne Graham is controversially - but rightly - acquitted of murder after her elderly patient dies in suspicious circumstances. Changing her name she gets a position nursing ... See full summary »

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

Sidney Gilliat, Roy Vickers (novel)

Stars:

Margaret Lockwood, Barry K. Barnes, Emlyn Williams

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Margaret Lockwood	...	Anne Graham
Barry K. Barnes	...	Stephen Farringdon
Emlyn Williams	...	Tracy
Roger Livesey	...	Bill Mather
Margaretta Scott	...	Judith Bentley
Wyndham Goldie	...	Edward Bentley
Basil Radford	...	Doctor Threadgrove
Irene Handl	...	Gertrude Mary Blaker
Mervyn Johns	...	James Fetherwood
Betty Jardine	...	Elsie
Kathleen Harrison	...	Cook
Felix Aylmer	...	Prosecuting Counsel

Storyline

Nurse Anne Graham is controversially - but rightly - acquitted of murder after her elderly patient dies in suspicious circumstances. Changing her name she gets a position nursing wheelchair-bound Edward Bentley, little suspecting that his wife and the butler are lovers setting Anne up so that when Bentley is found dead it looks like a repeat of the earlier case.

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Plot Keywords:

acquitted of murder | courtroom | based on novel

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Komplott!

Filming Locations:

Gaumont-British Studios, Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic Film Full Range Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Quartet No.1, Op.11: Andante"
(uncredited)
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Arranged by 'Louis Levy'

User Reviews

Courting Prejudice

Core to the plot is the extent to which a justifiable acquittal at a trial nevertheless prejudices the accused's future life. Given modern day concerns over sensational press coverage this is an issue as valid today (probably more so) than it was in war-time Britain. But the film does not follow this line, rather it presents us with a good old-fashioned courtroom drama, culminating in a finale of which Perry Mason would have been proud. Quite how the hero lawyer manages this stretches the judicial imagination somewhat, especially with a flawed witness, whose evidence clinches the outcome, not having to testify from the witness box.

Despite these reservations this is an enjoyable enough production which canters along at a good pace without any pretensions to high art. And it was nice to see some early work from two actresses, Irene Handl (particularly malevolent as the first "victim") and Kathleen Harrison, who both went on to greater things in post-war British TV.