Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Michael Redgrave | ... | Sir Arthur Benson Gray | |
Tony Britton | ... | Philip Selwood | |
Carl Möhner | ... | Dr. Carl Romek | |
Niall MacGinnis | ... | Neil Isherwood | |
Vanessa Redgrave | ... | Pamela Benson Gray | |
Ian Bannen | ... | Alan Crabtree | |
Brenda Bruce | ... | Elizabeth Fallon | |
Lionel Jeffries | ... | Walter Froy | |
Miles Malleson | ... | Sir Oswald Pettiford | |
John Welsh | ... | Colonel Langley | |
Ann Firbank | ... | Mrs. Judson | |
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John Gale | ... | Mr. John Greenwood |
Jack Hedley | ... | Dr. Galbraith | |
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Hugh Miller | ... | Examiner |
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Mary Skinner | ... | Theatre Sister |
Newly qualified surgeon takes the blame for his drug addict colleague after the death of their patient through neglect.
Brian Desmond Hurst is best remembered for his SCROOGE starring Alistair Sim. Here, he tackles the usual story of a young surgeon, played by Tony Britton, starting out under the aegis of Michael Redgrave -- Britton's character is engaged to Redgrave's daughter, played by Vanessa Redgrave in her screen acting debut.
Careful attention has been paid to technical issues of the era, and the capable cast handles their roles well enough. However, the standard plots of such movies are in full evidence, making this movie lack more than the standard levels of emotional involvement -- it's obvious that certain roles are going to behave in certain ways at certain times. In addition, DP Robert Krasker's color cinematography has a late-40s green cast to it and it looks like the color separations have shrunk at microscopically different rates making it slightly out of focus. I suspect the green cast may have something to do with the drug-addict-doctor subplot, adding an absinthe tint to the affair.
Still, Hurst's usual highly competent work keeps things moving along nicely. This one is definitely worth your time.