''Grand National Night'' is a 1953 British

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

brought to the screen by George Minter, produced by Phil C. Samuel, and based on a play of the same title written by

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

and Dorothy Christie. It was directed by Bob McNaught and starred

Nigel Patrick Nigel Patrick (born Nigel Dennis Patrick Wemyss-Gorman; 2 May 1912 – 21 September 1981) was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family. During the late 1940s and 1950s, he became known as a debonair leading man in Brit ...

Moira Lister Moira Lister Gachassin-Lafite, Viscountess of Orthez (6 August 192327 October 2007) was a South African-British film, stage and television actress and writer. Early life Born in Cape Town to Major James Lister and Margaret (née Hogan), List ...

and

Beatrice Campbell Beatrice Campbell (31 July 1922 – 10 May 1979) was an Irish stage and film actress, born in County Down, Northern Ireland, Biography Career After a distinguished London stage career, Campbell entered film in the mid-1940s. She received ...

(Patrick's wife) with support from

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...

, Noel Purcell and a cameo role from

Colin Gordon Colin Gordon (27 April 1911 – 4 October 1972) was a British actor born in Ceylon. Biography He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a ...

. The film was shot at

Walton Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Frederick Pusey. Cinematography was by

Jack Asher Jack Asher British Society of Cinematographers, B.S.C. (29 March 1916, London – 1991) was an England, English cinematographer. His brother Robert Asher (director), Robert Asher was a film and TV director with whom he worked on several occa ...

. Previous to this film version Grand National Night had been presented as a BBC Radio serial as well as the original stage play, which was produced in 1945 and 1946. The cast of the original play was headed by

Leslie Banks Leslie James Banks CBE (9 June 1890 – 21 April 1952) was an English stage and screen actor, director and producer, now best remembered for playing gruff, menacing characters in black-and-white films of the 1930s and 1940s, but also the Choru ...

as Gerald Coates.

Plot

Racehorse trainer Gerald Coates argues with his alcoholic wife Babs on the evening after his horse has won the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

. She attacks him with a knife and there is a struggle with the knife. As a result she becomes fatally wounded. He drives her to Liverpool to try and get her medical attention, but he discovers that she had died and leaves her in the car which belongs to a friend of hers. He takes a train home and waits for a police investigation.

Cast

as Gerald Coates *

as Babs Coates *

as Joyce Penrose *

Betty Ann Davies Betty Ann Davies (24 December 1910 – 14 May 1955) was a British stage and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1950s. Davies made her first stage appearance at the Palladium in a revue in 1924. The following year she joined Cochran's Youn ...

as Pinkie Collins *

as Inspector Ayling * Noel Purcell as Philip Balfour * Leslie Mitchell as Jack Donovan * Barry MacKay as Sergeant Gibson *

as Buns Darling *

Gibb McLaughlin George McLoughlin (19 July 1879 – 30 June 1961), known professionally as Gibb McLaughlin, was an English film and stage actor. Early days McLaughlin was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England in 1879. For about 10 years he was a sale ...

as Morton * Richard Grayden as Chandler *

May Hallatt May Hallatt (born Marie Effie Hullatt; 1 May 1876 – 20 May 1969) was an English actress, born in Scarborough. Baptised at St Michael on the Mount, Lincoln, on 13 Jan 1884 she was the daughter of William Henry Hallatt, actor, and Carrie Sydney ...

as Hoskyns *George Sequira as George *

Ernest Jay Ernest Jay (18 September 1893 – 8 February 1957) was a British actor. Selected filmography * '' My Lucky Star'' (1933) - Press Agent * ''Tiger Bay'' (1934) - Alf * '' The Iron Duke'' (1934) - First Orderly * '' The Phantom Light'' (1935) ...

as railway official *

Russell Waters Russell Waters (born 10 June 1908, Glasgow, Lanarkshire – died 19 August 1982, Richmond, Surrey) was a Scottish film actor. Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the ...

as plainclothes detective * George Rose as plainclothes detective *

Arthur Howard Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Camberwell, London, Howard was the younger son of Lilian (née Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" ...

as Hotel Manager * Edward Evans as garage attendant

Reception

David Parkinson of ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' gave the film 3 stars out of 5.

Notes

External links

* 1950s thriller films British thriller films British films based on plays Films shot at Nettlefold Studios Allied Artists films Films set in England British horse racing films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films {{1950s-thriller-film-stub