''Front Page Story'' is a 1954 British
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Gordon Parry and starring
Jack Hawkins
John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...
,
Elizabeth Allan
Elizabeth Allan (9 April 1910 – 27 July 1990) was an English stage and film actress who worked in both Britain and Hollywood, where she appeared in 50 films.
Life and career
Allan was born in Skegness, Lincolnshire in 1910 and educated in ...
and
Eva Bartok
Éva Márta Szőke Ivanovics (18 June 19271 August 1998), known professionally as Eva Bartok, was a Hungarian-British actress. She began acting in films in 1950 and her last credited appearance was in 1966. She acted in more than 40 American, ...
. It was shot in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
at
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...
with some
location shooting
Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior.
The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. The film's sets were designed by the
art director Arthur Lawson.
Plot
Grant is a hard working
Fleet Street newspaper editor
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
who refuses to take a long planned holiday with his wife Susan. Instead, to her annoyance, he stays in his office to deal with a number of urgent stories. These include a family of children
evicted
Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...
from their home when their mother dies, a woman charged with
euthanasia, and a drunken ex-reporter tracking down an
atomic scientist
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...
. They all culminate in the story of a
plane crash
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
, after which Grant is shocked to find his wife listed as one of the passengers. He discovers Susan was leaving him and going away with one of his colleagues. But did she take the plane?
Cast
*
Jack Hawkins
John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...
as Grant
*
Elizabeth Allan
Elizabeth Allan (9 April 1910 – 27 July 1990) was an English stage and film actress who worked in both Britain and Hollywood, where she appeared in 50 films.
Life and career
Allan was born in Skegness, Lincolnshire in 1910 and educated in ...
as Susan Grant
*
Eva Bartok
Éva Márta Szőke Ivanovics (18 June 19271 August 1998), known professionally as Eva Bartok, was a Hungarian-British actress. She began acting in films in 1950 and her last credited appearance was in 1966. She acted in more than 40 American, ...
as Mrs. Thorpe
*
Derek Farr
Derrick Capel Farr (7 February 191221 March 1986) was an English actor who appeared regularly in British films and television from 1938 until his death in 1986. His more famous roles include Group Captain John Whitworth in '' The Dam Busters' ...
as Teale
*
Michael Goodliffe
Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts.
Biography
Goodliffe was ...
as Kennedy
*
Martin Miller Martin Miller may refer to:
*Martin Miller (actor) (1899–1969), Czech actor
*Martin Miller (cricketer, born 1940), English cricketer
*Martin Miller (cricketer, born 1972), English cricketer
*Martin Miller (footballer) (born 1997), Estonian footbal ...
as Dr. Brukmann
*
Walter Fitzgerald
Walter Fitzgerald Bond (18 May 1896 – 20 December 1976) was an English character actor.
Early life
Born in Stoke, Plymouth, Fitzgerald was a former stockbroker before he began his theatrical training at RADA. He joined the British Army dur ...
as Black
*
Patricia Marmont
Patricia Eileen Marmont (9 August 1921 – 3 December 2020) was an American-born British actress in Hollywood films and on television, and a theatrical agent. Marmont's best known role was as the Trojan princess Andromache in the 1956 film ''Hel ...
as Julie
*
Joseph Tomelty
Joseph Tomelty (5 March 1911 – 7 June 1995) was an Irish actor, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and theatre manager. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage. starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play ''Over the Bridge''.
...
as Dan
* Jenny Jones as Jenny
* Stephen Vercoe as Craig
*
Helen Haye
Helen Haye (born Helen Hay, 28 August 1874 – 1 September 1957) was a British stage and film actress.
New York Times. 3 Septem ...
as Susan's Mother
*
Michael Howard as Barrow
*
John Stuart as Counsel for the Prosecution
*
Bruce Beeby
Bruce Edward Beeby (21 October 1921 – 20 October 2013) was an Australian actor who worked primarily in British films and television. He was probably best known for portraying Stephen "Mitch" Mitchell in the 1950s BBC radio serials '' Journ ...
as Counsel for the Defence
*
Guy Middleton
Guy Middleton Powell (14 December 1906 – 30 July 1973), better known as Guy Middleton, was an English film character actor.
Biography
Guy Middleton was born in Hove, Sussex, and originally worked in the London Stock Exchange, before tu ...
as Gentle
*
Ronald Adam
General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer. He had an important influence on the conduct of the British Army during the Second World War as a result of his long tenure ...
as Editor
*
Henry Mollison
Evelyn Henry Mollison (21 February 1905 – 19 July 1985) was a British theatre and film actor. He was the brother of the actor Clifford Mollison.
During World War II, he was held as a Prisoner of War for five years by the Nazis, after hi ...
as Lester
Critical reception
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' critic wrote, "there's nothing wrong with the point of this picture. It just doesn't make it well"; ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008.
Corpora ...
'' found it "a lucid look behind the headlines at the people who get out the news"; while the British ''
Radio Times'' magazine found it "cosily dated, but an interesting sign of its times."
References
External links
*
1954 films
British drama films
1954 drama films
Films about journalists
Films set in London
Films shot in London
British Lion Films films
Films directed by Gordon Parry
Films shot at Shepperton Studios
1950s English-language films
British black-and-white films
1950s British films
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