''Judgment Deferred'' is a 1952 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-g ...

directed by John Baxter and starring

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime ...

Hugh Sinclair Admiral Sir Hugh Francis Paget Sinclair, (18 August 1873 – 4 November 1939), known as Quex Sinclair, was a British intelligence officer. He was Director of British Naval Intelligence between 1919 and 1921, and he subsequently helped to set ...

Helen Shingler Helen Shingler (29 August 1919 – 8 October 2019) was a British film and television actress. Biography Shingler was born on 29 August 1919. She married producer Seafield Head, and was the mother of actor and singer Murray Head and actor Ant ...

and Abraham Sofaer. The film is a remake of the director's earlier film, ''

Doss House ''Doss House'' is a 1933 British drama film directed by John Baxter (director), John Baxter and starring Frank Cellier (actor), Frank Cellier, Arnold Bell and Herbert Franklyn. It was made at Shepperton Studios as a quota quickie.Wood p.77 In 1 ...

'' (1933).

Production

The film was shot at Southall Studios 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 ...

Don Russell Dr Donald Russell is a former senior Australian public servant and administrator. He is currently the Chairman of AustralianSuper, Australia's largest superannuation fund. Education Don Russell has a PhD from the London School of Economics, a ...

. It was the first production from Group 3 Films, a company formed to encourage new young

British film The United Kingdom has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936, the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors D ...

-makers (which later produced ''

The Brave Don't Cry ''The Brave Don't Cry'' is a 1952 British drama film directed by Philip Leacock and starring John Gregson, Meg Buchanan and John Rae. The film depicts the events of September 1950 at the Knockshinnoch Castle colliery in Scotland, where 129 men ...

'', ''

Conflict of Wings ''Conflict of Wings'' is a 1954 British comedy drama film directed by John Eldridge and starring John Gregson, Muriel Pavlow and Kieron Moore. The film is based on a novel of the same title by Don Sharp who later became a noted director. It w ...

'', ''

The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp ''The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp'' is a 1954 British fantasy comedy film directed by Alan Bromly and starring Felix Aylmer, Diane Cilento and Jerry Desmonde. The film was based on a novel by Charles Terrot and is a remake of his television p ...

'' and several other low-budget features).

Plot

With the assistance of a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

a group of

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

and down and outs try and unmask the criminal who has framed one of their number as a

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by ...

Selected cast

as David Kennedy *

as Kay Kennedy * Abraham Sofaer as Chancellor *

Leslie Dwyer Leslie Gilbert Dwyer (28 August 1906 – 26 December 1986) was an English film and television actor. Career He was born in Catford, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer, and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his firs ...

as Flowers *

as Lil Carter *

Harry Locke Harry Locke (10 December 1913 – 7 September 1987) was an English character actor. He was born and died in London. He married Joan Cowderoy in 1943 and Cordelia Sewell in 1952. He was a good friend of the poet Dylan Thomas. Their friendship in ...

as Bert *

Elwyn Brook-Jones Elwyn Brook-Jones (11 December 1911 – 4 September 1962) was a British theatre, film and television actor. Life Brook-Jones was born in Kuching, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. After a private education, he attended Jesus College, Oxford. Hi ...

as Coxon * Marcel Poncin as Stranger * Martin Benson as Pierre Desportes *

Bud Flannagan Bud Flanagan, (born Chaim Reuben Weintrop, 14 October 1896 – 20 October 1968) was a British music hall and vaudeville entertainer and comedian, and later a television and film actor. He was best known as a double act with Chesney Allen. Fla ...

as Himself *

Bransby Williams Bransby Williams (born Bransby William Pharez; 14 August 1870 – 3 December 1961) was a British actor, comedian and monologist. He became known as "The Irving of the music halls". Early years Born in Hackney, London, the son of William Me ...

as Dad *

Michael Martin Harvey Michael Martin Harvey (birth registered as Jack Seaforth Harvey, baptised as Jack Seaforth Elton Harvey, 18 April 1897 – 30 June 1975) was an English actor. He was the son of the stage actor/manager Sir John Martin-Harvey and brother of actress ...

as Martin *

Harry Welchman Harry Welchman (24 February 1886 – 3 January 1966) was an English star of musical theatre. He made several appearances in non-musical plays, but was remembered as, in the words of ''The Times'', "perhaps the most popular musical comedy hero on th ...

as Doc *

Wilfred Walter Wilfred Walter (2 March 1882 in Ripon, West Riding of Yorkshire – 9 July 1958 in Ashtead, Surrey) was an English film and theatre actor, sometimes credited as Wilfrid Walter. He was born Franz Wilfrid Walter, son of the actor Richard Walter ...

as Judge *

Maire O'Neill Maire O'Neill (born Mary Agnes Allgood; 11 January 1886 – 2 November 1952) was an Irish actress of stage and film. She holds a place in theatre history as the first actress to interpret the lead character of Pegeen Mike Flaherty in John Mill ...

as Mrs. O'Halloran *

Mary Merrall Mary Merrall (5 January 1890 – 31 August 1973), born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work. Stage career Merrall's stage career started in her teens, making her first stag ...

as Lady Musterby *

Edgar Driver Edgar Driver (1 November 188515 September 1964) was a British actor."Edgar Driver"
at BFI.

Selec ...

as Blackie * Billy Russell as Ginger *

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 Ambulance Driver

Critical reception

The 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 ...

'' described the film as "a muddled, maudlin melodrama that feels like substandard

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

done by amateur theatricals." ''

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 ...

'' found the film "captivating mainly because of the novelty of the story and the many strange characters that are introduced."

Sky Movies Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

wrote "this one occasionally creaks under the strain of its longish running time but offers some striking tableaux, especially within the weird 'court' held by a crowd of criminals, eccentrics and jobless that in some ways recalls the 'jury' that proved the nemesis of

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

's classic thriller ' M'."

References

Bibliography

* Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. ''The British 'B' Film''. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.

External links

* 1952 films British crime drama films 1952 crime drama films 1950s English-language films Films directed by John Baxter Films set in London Films shot at Southall Studios Remakes of British films British black-and-white films 1950s British films {{1950s-UK-film-stub