"It Happened in Soho" (1948) stars Richard Murdoch, Henry Oscar, Patricia Raine, Paul Demel, John Bailey, Eunice Gayson, and others. This grade Z film, even though it is such, is still otherwise very interesting, but it's SO badly made! Whoever edited this - well, didn't! The director was asleep MOST of the time, but not all the time. The actors do what they can with the material - which isn't necessarily bad. It's the way it's put together. And that music... What was someone thinking? Oh, that's right, they weren't.
Yes, this takes place in Soho. Soho in 1948 was a rough place. For its time, very rough. You'd barely know it based on the film. The action...I'll use the word loosely...takes place almost entirely in a café run by Paul Demel, an immigrant from somewhere based on his accent. Many of the patrons are prostitutes or former ones. Some are pretty and some are much more than just a little faded. Then there's the artist/caricaturist. He's a former medical student/dropout, or so he says, John Bailey... The main character is Richard Murdoch, an optimistic cynic, whose demeanor throughout just...doesn't...really...fit the character as written. He's very good, but I'd have chosen someone more like the American actor Dana Andrews. Instead, the character Murdoch plays is more like a very serious Herbert Anderson who played Dennis the Menace's father in the 1950s/60s television series. He even looks a tad like him. The main female of the piece is Patricia Raine. She just drops out of the sky into this Soho café in the middle of the night from a date with someone she had to get away from - and she's from the country - and ends up in the picture for the rest of it, staying with Eunice Gayson, probably a prostitute, as though this kind of thing happens every second of the day. Gayson offers her the place to stay, food on the house, just stay and make yourself at home... Uh, huh...
Two murders occur. It even looks as if Murdoch may be the murderer at a crucial moment. Is he? Well, if you can stand it, watch. You'll enjoy seeing Soho in '48, I'll grant you that. HOWEVER, be warned that most of the shots outside showing the tours of Soho - which are eccentrically edited into this film! - are done at night with lighting that is so dim you can barely see the scene!! It wasn't my DVD; that's the way it's shot. Just for charity, I'll give this one 4 stars out of 10. It's a 1 star film, but it has potential that just wasn't realized with the finished product. The potential's so good that it makes it worth the watch for some. Are you one of those?
Yes, this takes place in Soho. Soho in 1948 was a rough place. For its time, very rough. You'd barely know it based on the film. The action...I'll use the word loosely...takes place almost entirely in a café run by Paul Demel, an immigrant from somewhere based on his accent. Many of the patrons are prostitutes or former ones. Some are pretty and some are much more than just a little faded. Then there's the artist/caricaturist. He's a former medical student/dropout, or so he says, John Bailey... The main character is Richard Murdoch, an optimistic cynic, whose demeanor throughout just...doesn't...really...fit the character as written. He's very good, but I'd have chosen someone more like the American actor Dana Andrews. Instead, the character Murdoch plays is more like a very serious Herbert Anderson who played Dennis the Menace's father in the 1950s/60s television series. He even looks a tad like him. The main female of the piece is Patricia Raine. She just drops out of the sky into this Soho café in the middle of the night from a date with someone she had to get away from - and she's from the country - and ends up in the picture for the rest of it, staying with Eunice Gayson, probably a prostitute, as though this kind of thing happens every second of the day. Gayson offers her the place to stay, food on the house, just stay and make yourself at home... Uh, huh...
Two murders occur. It even looks as if Murdoch may be the murderer at a crucial moment. Is he? Well, if you can stand it, watch. You'll enjoy seeing Soho in '48, I'll grant you that. HOWEVER, be warned that most of the shots outside showing the tours of Soho - which are eccentrically edited into this film! - are done at night with lighting that is so dim you can barely see the scene!! It wasn't my DVD; that's the way it's shot. Just for charity, I'll give this one 4 stars out of 10. It's a 1 star film, but it has potential that just wasn't realized with the finished product. The potential's so good that it makes it worth the watch for some. Are you one of those?
