10 Rillington Place (1971)

London, 1949. John Christie is an unassuming, middle aged man who, along with his wife Ethel, manages the apartment building at 10 Rillington Place. His unassuming demeanor masks the fact ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Ludovic Kennedy (book), Clive Exton

Stars:

Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Attenborough	...	John Reginald Christie
Judy Geeson	...	Beryl Evans
John Hurt	...	Timothy John Evans
Pat Heywood	...	Mrs. Ethel Christie
Isobel Black	...	Alice
Miss Riley	...	Baby Geraldine
Phyllis MacMahon	...	Muriel Eady
Ray Barron	...	Workman Willis
Douglas Blackwell	...	Workman Jones
Gabrielle Daye	...	Mrs. Lynch
Jimmy Gardner	...	Mr. Lynch
Edward Evans	...	Det. Inspector
Tenniel Evans	...	Detective Sergeant
David Jackson	...	Constable
Richard Coleman	...	Constable

Storyline

London, 1949. John Christie is an unassuming, middle aged man who, along with his wife Ethel, manages the apartment building at 10 Rillington Place. His unassuming demeanor masks the fact of being a serial killer. His modus operandi is to act as a person with a medical background, lure unsuspecting women to his apartment on the pretense of curing them of some ailment, knock them unconscious with carbon monoxide gas, gain his sexual release through contact with the unconscious body, then strangle the victim dead before disposing of the body usually by burying it in his back yard. His next intended target is Beryl Evans, a young woman who has just moved into a flat in his building. Beryl's husband, Tim Evans, is an illiterate man who likes to put on airs. Already with an infant daughter named Geraldine, the Evanses learn they are going to have another baby, which they cannot afford to have, nor can they afford to abort the pregnancy. This problem, on top of the constant issue of lack of...

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Plot Keywords:

abortion | pregnancy | murder | serial killer | gas | 

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Taglines:

The true story of John Christie - the serial killer.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1971 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

10 Rillington place

Filming Locations:

10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmways Pictures, Genesis Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bernard Lee originally appeared as "Inspector J" (based on the real-life Chief Inspector Jennings) though his scenes were cut from the finished movie.

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Goofs

When Christie is explaining the procedure he's about to perform on Beryl, he says that natural gas contains carbon monoxide, then quotes its formula as CO2 (which is actually carbon dioxide). The correct formula for carbon monoxide is CO. However, the point appears to be to show him for the half-educated conman he is. It's just Christie's character creating an air of "expertise".

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Quotes

John Reginald Christie: Won't you come in a minute...?
Beryl Evans: Well, I've got...
John Reginald Christie: I've just put the kettle on.
Beryl Evans: Oh.

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Connections

Referenced in Psychoville: Joy (2009)

User Reviews

The Rillington strangler

Three years after "the Boston strangler" ,Richard Fleischer brilliantly succeeds in transferring to the screen a horrible true story.The two movies do not look like each other though."Boston strangler" was spectacular,making the best use of the split screen I've ever seen."10 RP" is an austere bleak work ,all the more disturbing than its style is bald.Richard Attenborough(an extraordinary performance,on a par with Peter Lorre's"M") portrays one of those serial killers in the first half of last century.Two good examples :Landru ,whose character Charlie Chaplin used in "Monsieur Verdoux " and Claude Chabrol in his eponymous movie,or "Doctor Petiot" who was doing on a small scale (killing Jews to despoil them) what the Nazis were doing on a large one. Christie ,Landru and Petiot are close relatives.They seem harmless,mediocre little men .Not the serial killer we meet in today's thrillers.And Christie is given the adequate treatment by his director:the poor house,the crummy flats ,the pubs ,the no-future of an uneducated generation (Fleischer lays stress on the fact that Tim cannot read and write ).This illiteracy is partly responsible for Tim's unfair revolting fate.

Fleischer's style is plain;the trial scenes,when any director would have his actors overact is a lesson a lot of the current artists should pay attention to.The hanging could not be spookier.One cannot help but think that the last lines about Tim on the screen are a bit ironical.

Matching Attenborough's awesome portrayal,is John Hurt's remarkable Tim:definitely not Gregory Peck as his wife thinks,macho but pitiful,a not very handsome whining lad who cannot hold a candle to his maleficent owner.

You should see "the Boston strangler" and "10 Rillington place" one after the other