Morning Call (1957)

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Director:

Arthur Crabtree

Writers:

Bill Luckwell (writer)
Paul Tabori (writer)

Release Date:

21 March 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Cast

Greta Gynt	...	Annette Manning
Ron Randell	...	Nick Logan
Garard Green	...	Gil Stevens
Bruce Seton	...	Inspector S.G. Brown
Peter Fontaine	...	Fred Barnes, reporter
Virginia Keiley	...	Vera Clark
Robert Raglan	...	Plainclothesman
John Watson	...	Plainclothesman
Brian Sunners	...	Freddie, diner manager
Wally Patch	...	Wally, the tobacconist
David Lander	...	Dr. George Manning
Charles Farrell	...	John Karver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peter Noble	...	Bob, TV Interviewer

Also Known As:

The Strange Case of Dr. Manning (USA)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

British film thriller promise too much !

Dr. Manning, a successful doctor, married to a rich woman, is called out in the middle of the night to take care of a patient. Dr. Manning never returns from his visit and soon after his wife receives a ransom letter requesting five thousand pounds. From then on Mrs. Manning (Greta Gynt) is taken on a roller coaster ride trying to catch up with the kidnappers to deliver the money. But each delivery is a failure and soon it seems like everybody is inn on the secret which only complicates the matter. Mr. Manning is soon found killed and the killer is at large. The only way to catch him is if Mrs. Manning becomes the bait. She has heard the killers voice several times over the telephone. The newspaper press almost ruins the case by reporting disclosed information that makes the killer a danger to be around.

Towards the end of the movie there is a cat and mouse chase between the police and the killer. Marked ransom money soon appear and that leads us to the killer. A suspect that is not involved in the film in any ways, so you will never guess who he/she is up to the last moment. The motive for the killing of Dr. Manning is valid enough.

An American detective, played by Ron Randell, is there to solve the mystery, he collaborates with The Scotland Yard. But this case could really manage without him. I assume the American actor, Ron Randell, was mostly there to lure the audience to attend the film once it was distributed in The US. Through out the film Randell is there to assure us that the mystery will soon be resolved, annoying at times.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Manning" aka "Morning Call" is fine to watch, but kind of "much to do about nothing". It is not a dull film, it is fast moving, has many inn and outdoor scenes, but there are too many characters involved. Director Arthur Crabtree does his best to pull of this story, but it never becomes a "film-noir" triumph, the script is too ordinary for that, unfortunately.

Lead actress, Greta Gynt, in one of her last films before she ended her twenty year old film career. She is very restrained in her role as Mrs. Manning, the script allows her only to worry. She is very much apart of the film and should have been focused on during the cat and mouse chase between police and murder. Instead Ms. Gynt walks on to the scene after the whole affair is over. A brilliant actress who knows well how to portray suspense should have been at hand. That is the big crime of this film :) The End !