''Home at Seven'' is a 1952 British

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

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-g ...

directed by and starring

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

. It also features

Margaret Leighton Margaret Leighton, CBE (26 February 1922 – 13 January 1976) was an English actress, active on stage and television, and in film. Her film appearances included (her first credited debut feature) in Anatole de Grunwald's ''The Winslow Boy'' (1 ...

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 mili ...

Campbell Singer Campbell Singer (born Jacob Kobel Singer; 16 March 1909 – 16 February 1976) was a British character actor who featured in a number of stage, film and television roles during his long career. He was also a playwright and dramatist. Life He was ...

and

Michael Shepley Arthur Michael Shepley-Smith (29 September 1907 – 28 September 1961), known professionally as Michael Shepley, was a British actor, appearing in theatre, film and some television between 1929 and 1961. He was born in Plymouth, Devon. Shepl ...

. It is based on the 1950 play '' Home at Seven'' by

R. C. Sherriff Robert Cedric Sherriff, FSA, FRSL (6 June 1896 – 13 November 1975) was an English writer best known for his play '' Journey's End'', which was based on his experiences as an army officer in the First World War. He wrote several plays, many nov ...

. It was shot 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 w ...

with sets 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 ...

Vincent Korda Vincent Korda (22 June 1897 – 4 January 1979) was a Hungarian-born art director, later settling in Britain. Born in Túrkeve in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he was the younger brother of Alexander and Zoltan Korda. He was nom ...

and Frederick Pusey. The film is Richardson's only work as director.

Guy Hamilton Mervyn Ian Guy Hamilton, DSC (16 September 1922 – 20 April 2016) was an English film director. He directed 22 films from the 1950s to the 1980s, including four James Bond films. Early life Hamilton was born in Paris on 16 September 1922, wh ...

was assistant director. It was released on DVD in the UK on 30 June 2014 by Network Distributing.

Plot

Preston, a

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

banker, returns at 7 pm to his suburban home in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

one Tuesday evening to discover that he has been missing for 24 hours, yet he does not remember the lost day. He discovers that he was seen at the social club which he is the treasurer of on Monday evening taking 515 pounds from the safe. The man who saw this, Robinson, is found murdered in an allotment the evening he comes home. When questioned by the police he lies that he spent the night across London with friends. However he later discovers the friend he nominated is away on holidays. He goes to his doctor and tells him he has started to remember things. He describes where Robinson was found and how he was being followed by him. He says he buried the money then followed Robinson. He tells the doctor of his lie about where he was Monday night. His doctor takes him to see his solicitor who advises him to employ an expensive counsel to defend himself. The solicitor also advises him to tell the police the correct story. He becomes the major suspect in the robbery and murder, but he does not know if he was involved or not. The police takes him to the police station for a statement after collecting his clothes and shoes worn on Monday. Preston's wife reveals to the lawyer that her husband has been short of money due to his father embezzling money from his work. He tells the police that he cannot remember anything from 6 pm Monday till 7 pm Tuesday. The president of the club tells the doctor that Preston has been borrowing money all around the club. It is ultimately revealed by a barmaid that he regularly spends from 5pm till 6 pm each evening in her pub. He did this on Monday evening but started acting oddly following a loud bang outside, which seemed to trigger a war time memory. He seemed to think the war is back on. He then is placed in a room in the hotel and he goes to sleep. He sleeps there all night and in the morning still seems to think the war is on. He stayed in the room all day. They take him down to the bar at 5 pm and he comes out if the trance, says he is going home, and leaves. She tells the police and they advise Preston they have discovered Robinson and another person did the robbery and he murdered Robinson.

Cast

as David Preston *

as Janet Preston *

as Dr Sparling *

as Inspector Hemingway *

as Major Watson *

Margaret Withers Margaret Withers (6 July 1893 – 26 October 1977) was a British actress mainly on the stage. Filmography References External links

* Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown British stage actresses British film actresses 20th-c ...

as Mrs Watson *

Meriel Forbes Meriel Forbes, Lady Richardson (13 September 1913 – 7 April 2000) was an English actress. She was a granddaughter of Norman Forbes-Robertson and great-niece of Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson. After making her stage debut with her father's tour ...

as Peggy Dobson *

Frederick Piper Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at the ...

as Petherbridge *

Gerald Case (Thomas) Gerald Case (1905 – 22 May 1985) was a British film and television actor known for his role in the 1976 Wodehouse Playhouse episode, ' Strychnine in the Soup'. He was the son of Captain Thomas Elphinstone Case, of the Coldstream Guard ...

as Sergeant Evans *

Diana Beaumont Diana Beaumont (8 May 1909 – 21 June 1964) was a British actress. In 1932 she starred in the West End run of the hit comedy ''While Parents Sleep'' by Anthony Kimmins, while in 1934 she appeared in Ian Hay's '' Admirals All''. Selected fil ...

as Ellen * Archie Duncan as station sergeant * Victor Hagan as police photographer * Robert Moore as fingerprint man *

Johnnie Schofield Johnnie William Schofield (10 March 1889 – 9 September 1955) was a British actor, known for '' The Middle Watch'' (1948), ''Tawny Pipit'' (1944) and '' Melody of My Heart'' (1936). Early life John William Schofield was born on 10 March 1889 i ...

as Joe Dobson, landlord of the Feathers

Critical reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' stated that "Richardson directs the piece with a straightforward competence." ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' was more critical: Richardson had "divided his talent between the principal role and the direction, but the latter is practically non-existent in any cinema sense".

References

External links

* {{Alexander Korda 1952 films 1950s mystery drama films British mystery drama films British black-and-white films British films based on plays London Films films British Lion Films films Films directed by Ralph Richardson Films with screenplays by Anatole de Grunwald 1952 drama films Films about amnesia Films set in London Films shot at Shepperton Studios 1950s English-language films 1950s British films