''Portrait of Alison'' is a 1956 British atmospheric

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by Guy Green. It was based on a BBC television series ''

Portrait of Alison ''Portrait of Alison'' is a 1956 British atmospheric crime film directed by Guy Green. It was based on a BBC television series '' Portrait of Alison'' which aired the same year. In the United States the film was released as ''Postmark for Dang ...

'' which aired the same year. In the United States the film was released as ''Postmark for Danger''. It was also known as ''Alison''.

Plot

A car plunges over a cliff in Italy. Both passengers, newspaperman Lewis Forrester and actress Alison Ford, are killed. In London, Lewis's brother, Tim, is an artist. He is painting his favourite model, Jill, for a beer advertisement. She tells him that she is giving up her party life to marry Carmichael. However, she is kissing Tim passionately when a police inspector arrives. Tim gets a strange commission, from a Mr Smith, to paint Smith’s dead daughter, the car crash victim. He gives him a photo to work from and a beautiful blue dress to use for posing the picture. Jill sees the dress and admires both it and the portrait of Alison. She goes to meet her fiance for lunch but forgets a box she was to give him. Jill is found dead in Tim's flat wearing the blue dress. The face on the portrait has been erased and the photo on which it was based has disappeared. The police arrive and ask if they can open the box. It contains an empty bottle of Chianti with a British label: Nightingale & Son - a firm that does not exist. The chianti bottle is sketched in the corner of a postcard from Rome sent to Tim from Lewis. Tim is a prime suspect in the murder. Meanwhile we learn Alison is not dead, as she is seen walking around London. She appears at Tim's door and explains that the woman killed in the car crash was a hitchhiker but everyone presumed it was her. She is involved in an international diamond smuggling deal. Tim invites the police in order to prove that Alison is alive, but she has disappeared. She has gone to see her father in a hotel. He seems involved in the diamond smuggling. Allison solicits the help of Forrester's brother, Tim. Then, as the story unfolds, a number of mysterious, unsolved questions keep emerging, along with two more murders and a suicide. It turns out that no less than four of the major characters are part of the international ring of diamond thieves, and that an independent blackmailer is at work as well. After arrests are made Tim and Alison are alone. He asks if she can stay with him until he completes her portrait. She asks how long this will take. When he answers all my life she says that's fine.

Cast

* Terry Moore as Alison Ford *

Robert Beatty Robert Rutherford Beatty (19 October 1909 – 3 March 1992) was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK. Early years Beatty was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, O ...

as Tim Forrester *

William Sylvester William Sylvester (January 31, 1922 – January 25, 1995) was an American television and film actor. His most famous film credit was Dr. Heywood Floyd in Stanley Kubrick's '' 2001 A Space Odyssey'' (1968). Life and career William Sylves ...

as Dave Forrester *

Geoffrey Keen Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early li ...

as Inspector Colby *

Josephine Griffin Josephine Griffin (13 December 1928 – 15 September 2005) was a well-known English film actress who appeared in a string of British films in the 1950s, such as ''The Purple Plain'' (1954), ''The Man Who Never Was'' (1956) and '' The Spanish Gard ...

as Jill Stewart *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, W ...

as Henry Carmichael *

Henry Oscar Henry Wale (14 July 1891 – 28 December 1969), known professionally as Henry Oscar, was an English stage and film actor. He changed his name and began acting in 1911, having studied under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama ...

as John Smith * William Lucas as Reg Dorking *

Terence Alexander Terence Joseph Alexander (11 March 1923 – 28 May 2009) was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama '' Bergerac'', which ran for nine series on BBC One between 1981 and 1991. ...

as Fenby *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He als ...

as Bill, the telephone engineer

Production

The film was based on a TV series, ''

''. Film rights were bought by Tony Owen, the husband of

Donna Reed Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in ...

who set up a film making operation in England. Ken Hughes co wrote the script. Guy Green said the story "was full of holes". He worked on the script with Ken Hughes "and we had to try to fill in all these holes." Terry Moore was borrowed from 20th Century Fox to star. Filming began in April 1955. In May 1955 RKO agreed to distribute in the US.

Reception

"The story is moderately eventful" said the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

''.PORTRAIT OF ALISON Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 23, Iss. 264, (Jan 1, 1956): 9.

References

External links