Terror Street (1953)

An American pilot AWOL from the states is framed for his wife's murder and has just 36 hours to prove his innocence.

Director:

Montgomery Tully

Writer:

Steve Fisher (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Dan Duryea, Elsie Albiin, Gudrun Ure

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dan Duryea	...	Maj. Bill Rogers
Elsie Albiin	...	Katherine 'Katie' Rogers (as Elsy Albiin)
Gudrun Ure	...	Sister Jenny Miller (as Ann Gudrun)
Eric Pohlmann	...	Slossen - Smuggler
John Chandos	...	Orville Hart
Kenneth Griffith	...	Henry Slosson
Harold Lang	...	Harry Cross - Desk Clerk
Jane Carr	...	Soup Kitchen Supervisor
Michael Golden	...	The Inspector
Marianne Stone	...	Pam Palmer

Storyline

Bill Rogers, an American pilot taking special training in the States, gets an unauthorized hop to England to pay a surprise visit his beautiful Norwegian wife. He is devastated when he finds that she has moved out of their flat and is living a new and glamorous lifestyle entertaining a lot of men. After being knocked unconscious by an unseen assailant in her upscale West End apartment, he awakens to find his wife shot to death with his service pistol. On the run from police he persuades a young woman who runs a Salvation Army soup kitchen to believe in his innocence and help him uncover the real culprit. Although the police do not know as yet that he is in Britain, he has just 36 hours before he is declared AWOL and his identity is exposed. The trail leads to a corrupt customs official, smuggling, blackmail, and a mysterious safety deposit box.

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Plot Keywords:

british noir | pilot | west end | soup kitchen | salvation army | 

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Taglines:

Her face was only the build-up to a frame-up!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Quotes

Major Bill Rogers: [to Slosson] Henry's a weakling. You probably made him that way!

User Reviews

An interesting plot that unfortunately hinges on a bad and overused cliche.

The basic idea for "36 Hours" is decent....and it could have been a really good British film noir movie. However, it suffers from a huge problem...the reliance on a bad and often overused cliche...the total stranger who helps a wanted man. Hitchcock used it in "The 39 Steps" but so have many other film makers....which is why I wasn't overly impressed by the movie.

Bill Rogers (Dan Duryea) is in the US Air Force and he's on a 36 hour layover in London. He takes this time to go home to see his wife...only to find the apartment empty. After investigating, he finds her in her new apartment...and it appears as if she's been up to no good while Bill was away. But before he can get any answers, he's hit from behind. When he awakens, he finds her dead next to him....shot with his gun!! Seeing he's behind the 8-ball, Bill decides that instead of going to the police, he'll investigate on his own. Now this in and of itself is an overused cliche...but it gets worse when he meets a young lady who, inexplicably, instantly believes him and takes MANY risks to help Bill....none of which makes any sense! It's a shame, as the main plot idea is sound...but what follows isn't.

Duryea is sound in the lead but even a decent performance by him cannot erase cliched writing....and it is cliched (as I mentioned above) and should have been better. In spite of this, the film still is interesting and worth seeing....but nothing more.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 December 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Terror Street

Filming Locations:

Bray Film Studios, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films, Lippert Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 85 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1