1955 British film by Val Guest
They Can't Hang Me is a 1955 British drama film directed by Val Guest and starring Terence Morgan, Yolande Donlan and Anthony Oliver.[1][2] It was based on a novel by Leonard Mosley.[3] It was shot at Shepperton Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Joseph Bato.
Plot
A senior civil servant, Pitt has been convicted of a murder and sentenced to death. Days before his execution, Pitt reveals that he has been passing on top secret information to an agent of a foreign power and offers to reveal the identity of his handler in exchange for a reprieve. With only five days before Pitt's execution, debonair Special Branch Inspector Ralph Brown takes on the task of identifying the spy before he flees the country.
The film uses Sidney Torch's music for The Black Museum for its title and some of its incidental music.
The starring role of Brown was an unusual part for Morgan, who was better known for playing villains.
Cast
Production
Guest said "the Proudlock Brothers had bought the book, Roger Proudlock and his brother, and had got themselves into terrible trouble one way or another, financially or the director they had had pulled out of they’d fired [them], something had gone wrong, and I know they called me in a panic and said “Will you take this over?” So I looked at it and I didn’t like the script so they let me redo the script, and we took over at very short notice. It was not one of those that I had sat down and said I must make."[4]
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Spy thriller with an involved, though fairly coherent, plot, hinging on the necessity to save a desperate situation within a limited period of time. With the exception of Pitt, who is convincingly played by Andre Morell, the characters are essentially subordinate to the action. Tension is sustained, and Val Guest directs with slick confidence from a laconic script."[5]
Radio Times calls the film "a minor Cold War thriller", adding, "(Val) Guest puts a neat (if downbeat) spin on events," and concluding, "the back-up cast is as solid as a rock, with Guest's wife Yolande Donlan putting in an effective appearance".[6]
TV Guide describes it as "slightly more interesting than the normal run of British spy films, thanks to an unusually intelligent script."[7]
References
External links
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