Time Without Pity (1957)

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writer:

Ben Barzman (writer)

Release Date:

March 1957 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend...

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholic Father | Inmate | Death Row | Tragic Hero | Adultery

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Michael Redgrave	...	David Graham
Leo McKern	...	Robert Stanford
Ann Todd	...	Honor Stanford
Paul Daneman	...	Brian Stanford
Peter Cushing	...	Jeremy Clayton
Alec McCowen	...	Alec Graham
Renee Houston	...	Mrs. Harker
Lois Maxwell	...	Vicky Harker
Richard Wordsworth	...	Maxwell (the MP)
George Devine	...	Barnes (the editor)
Joan Plowright	...	Agnes Cole
Ernest Clark	...	Undersecretary, Home Office
Peter Copley	...	Prison chaplain
Hugh Moxey	...	Prison governor
Dickie Henderson	...	Burlesque comedian-MC

Also Known As:

24 tuntia armonaikaa (Finland) [fi]
Alibi dell'ultima ora, L' (Italy) [it]
Angstens timer (Denmark) [da]
Min son skall hängas (Sweden) [sv]
Tempo Impiedoso (Portugal) [pt]
Temps sans pitié (France) [fr]
Teuflisches Alibi (West Germany) [de]
Tiempo sin piedad (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Harlequin Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

John Chandos replaced Felix Felton

TIME WITHOUT PITY (Joseph Losey, 1957) ***

Rather hysterical but engrossing and very well-acted melodrama (particularly by Michael Redgrave, a BAFTA nominee, and Leo McKern), ostensibly a murder mystery but with a manifest position against capital punishment.

Interestingly, the culprit is known from the very beginning but, saddled with an alcoholic hero, one is never sure whether he'll be able to prove his son's innocence of murder; the denouement, then, is terrific - as unexpected as it is ironic. Losey's expressionist style (aided by Freddie Francis's chiaroscuro cinematography) is in full sway here: actually, according to film critic Gerard Legrand - writing in "The Movie" - this was the film were the director really came into his own; I can't vouch for that myself since I have yet to watch three important films he made earlier i.e. THE PROWLER (1951) and M (1951), both Hollywood productions, and THE SLEEPING TIGER (1954), Losey's first effort following his relocation to Britain.

It's undeniably a powerful film though relatively verbose (it was adapted from a play by Emlyn Williams); like I said, Losey drives his actors to fever pitch and he has chosen a most capable cast - including Ann Todd, Alec McCowen, Peter Cushing, Renee' Houston, Lois Maxwell, Joan Plowright, Peter Copley and Richard Wordsworth! The only false note throughout, perhaps, is to be found in the score by Tristram Cary - which is so over-the-top that, at times, it even drowns out the dialogue!