The October Man (1947)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Eric Ambler (novel) and
Eric Ambler (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 May 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

He was Suspect Number One...while the real killer stalked the streets. [video cover]

Plot:

Jim Ackland, who suffers from a head injury sustained in a bus crash , is the chief suspect in a murder hunt...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Mental Illness | Man Hunt | Based On Novel

Cast

John Mills	...	Jim Ackland
Joan Greenwood	...	Jenny Carden
Edward Chapman	...	Mr. Peachy
Kay Walsh	...	Molly Newman
Joyce Carey	...	Mrs. Vinton
Catherine Lacey	...	Miss Selby
Adrianne Allen	...	Joyce Carden
Felix Aylmer	...	Dr. Martin
Frederick Piper	...	Det. Insp. Godby
John Boxer	...	Det. Sgt. Troth
Patrick Holt	...	Harry Carden
George Benson	...	Mr. Pope
Jack Melford	...	Wilcox
Esme Beringer	...	Miss Heap
Ann Wilton	...	Miss Parsons

Runtime:

110 min | Germany:90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

D and P Studios, Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Two Cities Films

They Don't Get Much Better Than This!

The superb John Mills plays a man with a history of emotional imbalance. He moves into a rooming house peopled by the sorts who might be charming in a Barbara Pym novel. Here they are increasingly less charming: There's the classic nosy landlady. There's an elderly resident who begs for more coal on the fire: The way she's written to do this made me think of a leitmotif from an Eliot poem.

There's a homely bachelor; there's an attractive young woman involved with a married man. And, there are assorted eccentrics thrown in as well.

Mills meets Joan Greenwood, she of the dark, husky voice. And a murder takes place.

That's all I will say, lest I give anything at all away: Try hard to see this little beauty of a film, knowing as little of the plot in advance as I did. Indeed, before today, I had never heard of it.

If it were an American film of this period it would be called a film noir. It has all the elements but I don't think I'd call it one. It's a psychological thriller, a mystery.

The secondary roles are cast superbly in every case. It's tense, filled with fascinating characters -- it lacks almost nothing. And the two stars could scarcely be better.