''The Small Voice'' (released in the United States as ''The Hideout'') is a 1948 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 ...

directed by

Fergus McDonell Fergus McDonell (6 October 1910, Ticehurst, Sussex – 3 January 1984, Norwich, Norfolk) was an English film editor and director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for ''Odd Man Out'' (1947). Critical assessments Disc ...

and starring

Valerie Hobson Babette Louisa Valerie Hobson (14 April 1917 – 13 November 1998) was a British actress whose film career spanned the 1930s to the early 1950s. Her second husband was John Profumo, a British government minister who became the subject of the P ...

James Donald James Donald (18 May 1917 – 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian m ...

and

Howard Keel Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer, known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS te ...

(who was credited as Harold Keel). The film is part of a group of British

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

produced around this time. It was based on the 1940 Robert Westerby novel of the same name. 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 ...

Andrew Mazzei Andrew Mazzei (1887–1975) was a French-born British art director who designed the sets for more than sixty films during his career. Mazzei began his career in the late 1920s during the silent era including on the futuristic ''High Treason''. ...

. It was the film debut of Howard Keel who made it while appearing in the original London production of ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' The film received a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film in 1949. The "small voice" of the title is referred to at the end of the film: the small voice in your own head, of one's conscience telling one not to do something.

Plot

Three ex-army men escape from

Dartmoor Prison HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor. The prison is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and is operated by ...

and kill a man to get his car. Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Byrne bicker on a train and discuss divorce before arriving at Llanbach in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

near their home. He has lost a leg in the war, and is very bitter. As a result they have drifted apart. He is now a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. As they drive along a country road at night they are stopped at a police road block, which is looking for the three escaped convicts. Five minutes later the couple spot broken glass and a missing parapet on an awkward bend and he goes to investigate. A man comes up the dark embankment and says there is another man in the car. The couple take them to their house, which is only a mile away, and intend to phone for medical assistance. They treat the injured man in the kitchen but the first man disappears and steals their car. They are immediately suspicious and the injured man pulls a gun. Back at the crash scene the first convict locates the third man and it is revealed that they hit another car. They search and find the car. The chauffeur is dead but two children are cowering in the back seat. They take the children back to the house. Mr and Mrs Byrne are locked in one room together and joke about the irony. The children are locked in a room with the Byrnes' housekeeper, Mrs Potter. The missing children's parents are at a police station trying to locate the missing car and children. The next day the Sunday newspaper arrives and we learn that the escaped convicts have killed a policeman. The well-educated children start correcting the convicts on their grammar. Mrs Potter distracts the convicts while Mrs Byrne escapes from an upper window. She is caught by the gang leader while trying to make a call from a telephone box. He later explains to Mr Byrne that he was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

but raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was in prison for killing an officer in his regiment. The boy appears to have

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

. The gang leader cannot stand the screaming and goes to shoot him. Mr Byrne finds an unattended gun and goes to shoot the leader. But he leaves the safety catch on. The leader points out the error, allowing Mr Byrne to kill him, ending the incident.

Cast

as Eleanor Byrne *

as Murray Byrne *

(credited under his true name as Harold Keel) as Boke an escapee * David Greene as Jim an escapee * Michael Balfour as Frankie an escapee * Joan Young as Mrs Potter, the housekeeper * Angela Fouldes as Jenny Moss. The credits in the film list her as Angela Faulds *

Glyn Dearman Glyn Dearman (30 December 1939 – 30 November 1997) was an English actor, originally a child actor, whose career spanned almost two decades, including the eponymous '' Jennings'' in BBC ''Children's Hour'' "Jennings at School". Dearman is perha ...

as Ken Moss * Norman Claridge as Superintendent * Edward Evans as Police Inspector * Bill Shine as Maitland *

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 ...

as Dr. Mennell * Edward Palmer as Joe Wallis * Lyn Evans as Ticket Collector

Critical reception

Virginia Graham Virginia Graham, born Virginia Komiss, (July 4, 1912 – December 22, 1998) was an American daytime television talk show host from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. On television, Graham hosted the broadcast syndication, syndicated programs ''Fo ...

wrote in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in 1948, "all this is admirably done, and eventually provides melodrama of an order as English and as excellent as muffins"; while ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' concluded that "the tension is sustained throughout, with some interesting plot twists along the way."

References

Bibliography

* Mayer, Geoff. ''Roy Ward Baker''. Manchester University Press, 2004.

External links

*
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Small Voice 1948 films British thriller films 1940s thriller films Films directed by Fergus McDonell Films produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan British black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films