Time Without Pity (1957)

Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec's ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writer:

Ben Barzman (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Leo McKern

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Redgrave	...	David Graham
Ann Todd	...	Honor Stanford
Leo McKern	...	Robert Stanford
Paul Daneman	...	Brian Stanford
Peter Cushing	...	Jeremy Clayton
Alec McCowen	...	Alec Graham
Renee Houston	...	Mrs. Harker
Lois Maxwell	...	Vickie Harker
Richard Wordsworth	...	Maxwell - the MP
George Devine	...	Barnes - the Editor
Joan Plowright	...	Agnes Cole
Ernest Clark	...	Under-Secretary - Home Office (as Ernest Clarke)
Peter Copley	...	Prison Chaplain
Hugh Moxey	...	Prison Governor
Dickie Henderson	...	Comedian

Storyline

Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec's father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. Alec repudiates his father's attempts for a final reconciliation. David Graham, convinced of his son's innocence and, despite his preoccupation with himself and his own alcoholism, mounts a last-ditch effort to find the true murderer in the 24 hours remaining until the planned execution. Graham encounters the wealthy and famous car manufacturer Robert Stanford, tyrant at home and in the office and an apparent womanizer, Stanford's young, curiously troubled wife Honar, their ill-at- ease son Brian, himself disturbed by his parents' relationship, and Vicky Harker, a young, brainless secretary at Stanford's factory who has been climbing up the career ...

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Plot Keywords:

murder | alcoholism | death row | england | british noir | 

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Genres:

Drama | Crime | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1957 (UK)

Also Known As:

24 tuntia armonaikaa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Harlequin Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Chandos replaced Felix Felton

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Goofs

Camera crew is reflected in the door of Clayton's car is it pulls up at the prison with Graham.

User Reviews

TIME WITHOUT PITY (Joseph Losey, 1957) ***

Rather hysterical but engrossing and very well-acted melodrama (particularly by Michael Redgrave, a BAFTA nominee, and Leo McKern), ostensibly a murder mystery but with a manifest position against capital punishment.

Interestingly, the culprit is known from the very beginning but, saddled with an alcoholic hero, one is never sure whether he'll be able to prove his son's innocence of murder; the denouement, then, is terrific - as unexpected as it is ironic. Losey's expressionist style (aided by Freddie Francis's chiaroscuro cinematography) is in full sway here: actually, according to film critic Gerard Legrand - writing in "The Movie" - this was the film were the director really came into his own; I can't vouch for that myself since I have yet to watch three important films he made earlier i.e. THE PROWLER (1951) and M (1951), both Hollywood productions, and THE SLEEPING TIGER (1954), Losey's first effort following his relocation to Britain.

It's undeniably a powerful film though relatively verbose (it was adapted from a play by Emlyn Williams); like I said, Losey drives his actors to fever pitch and he has chosen a most capable cast - including Ann Todd, Alec McCowen, Peter Cushing, Renee' Houston, Lois Maxwell, Joan Plowright, Peter Copley and Richard Wordsworth! The only false note throughout, perhaps, is to be found in the score by Tristram Cary

• which is so over-the-top that, at times, it even drowns out the

dialogue!