10 Rillington Place (1971)

Based on the real-life case of the British serial killer John Christie, and what happened to his neighbors Tim and Beryl Evans.

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Clive Exton (screenplay), Ludovic Kennedy (book)

Stars:

Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

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

Storyline

London, 1949. John Christie is an unassuming, middle-aged man who, along with his wife Ethel, lives in the ground-floor flat at 10 Rillington Place. His 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 somewhere in the house or outside area. His next intended target is Beryl Evans, a young woman who has just moved into the top flat in the house. 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 money ...

---

Plot Keywords:

beating a pregnant woman | murder of a pregnant woman | serial murder | strangler | strangulation | 

---

Taglines:

The true story of John Christie - the serial killer.

---

Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

GP

Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Attenborough later offered John Hurt the role of Gandhi. Hurt didn't feel he was right for it, but did consent to a make-up test. Afterwards, both men agreed it didn't work. Hurt guessed that Attenborough had to offer him the part because British investors in the film would have wanted a British actor in the lead.

---

Goofs

Christie's medals - he enlisted in 1916 and therefore could never be eligible for the 1914-15 Star he wears (red, white and blue ribbon), he could only have been awarded the War and Victory medals.

---

Quotes

John Reginald Christie: Tim, I dislke this business as much as you do. Just I happen to have picked up this knowledge while I was in training as a doctor before the war.
Timothy John Evans: I didn't know you did all this medical stuff.

---

Crazy Credits

Prologue to opening credits: "This is a true story. Whenever possible, the dialogue has been based on official documents"

---

Connections

Version of Rillington Place (2016)

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

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1971 (UK)

Also Known As:

10 Rillington Place

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Filmways, Genesis Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1