Straight on Till Morning (1972)

A timid, withdrawn woman meets a man she believes is finally the love of her life, unaware that he is a vicious serial killer.

Director:

Peter Collinson

Writer:

John Peacock (original screenplay)

Stars:

Rita Tushingham, Shane Briant, James Bolam

Cast

Cast overview:
Rita Tushingham	...	Brenda Thompson
Shane Briant	...	Peter Clive
James Bolam	...	Joey
Katya Wyeth	...	Caroline
Annie Ross	...	Liza
Tom Bell	...	Jimmy Lindsay
Claire Kelly	...	Margo Thompson (as Clare Kelly)
Harold Berens	...	Mr. Harris
John Clive	...	Newsagent
Tommy Godfrey	...	Mr. Godfrey
Mavis Villiers	...	Indian Princess
Lola Willard	...	Customer
Tinker	...	Tinker

Storyline

Shy Brenda Thompson writes naive children's stories to amuse herself. Stifled and desperate for a man of her own, she leaves Liverpool, telling her mom she's pregnant, and gets a job in a boutique in London. She moves in with the promiscuous but good-hearted Caroline but the mod set shuns her for her plain looks. Then she kidnaps a strange young man's dog, so as to perhaps get to know him while returning it. The young man turns out to be Peter, a psychopath with a predilection for killing beautiful things. He renames Brenda Wendy, and they start a hopeful, if strange, relationship. It might have a chance, if it weren't for Peter's murderous secrets.

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Plot Keywords:

liverpool | dog | serial killer | united kingdom | england | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dressed for Death

Filming Locations:

214 Earl's Court Road, Kensington, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Claire Kelly's final movie role.

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Goofs

When Peter leads Brenda/'Wendy' into her room for the first time, a crew member is clearly visible, crouching down from the doorway.

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Soundtracks

Straight On Till Morning
Music by Annie Ross
Lyrics by Annie Ross and John Peacock
Sung by Annie Ross

User Reviews

British Classic

I hadn't seen this movie for decades because it hasn't been shown on terrestrial TV for years, but I decided to buy the Region 1 DVD release (there's no official Region 2 UK release as yet) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well it's difficult to dislike Rita Tushingham in any film, but it's directed in such a great style by the late/great Peter Collinson (director of The Italian Job (1969)fame), with a bleak beginning that could only be Britian of the 1960's/1970's and with a real snap shot of how things were in London back then.

This is a very different type of film from Hammer, when compared to their usual offerings and must have been truly shocking back then with it's level of cruelty, but it's a classic movie you simply have to own and the fact it's unavailable in the UK (the very place it was made & with an all British cast) is scandalous.