''Mix Me a Person'' is a 1962

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

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 ...

directed by Leslie Norman, starring Anne Baxter,

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor. Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including ''The Cruel Sea (195 ...

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...

, Walter Brown and

Carole Ann Ford Carole Ann Lillian Ford ( Higgins; born 16 June 1940) is a British actress best known for her roles as Susan Foreman in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and as Bettina in the 1962 film adaptation of '' The Day of the ...

. The screenplay concerns a young London criminal who is faced with being hanged for murdering a policeman. With even his

defence counsel In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat a s ...

convinced of his guilt, a female psychiatrist tries to prove that the police and legal system have made a mistake.

Plot

Phillip Bellamy, a leading barrister, tells his wife, psychiatrist Anne Dyson, about his most recent case defending a young man, Harry Jukes, who has apparently shot a policeman on a country road and been found by police still holding the gun. Bellamy is convinced of his guilt but Anne is less sure. Much of her practice is with troubled young people, and she feels there is more to the story than the police evidence. Anne visits Harry in prison. He is depressed and distrustful but finally agrees to talk to her. Harry's story is that he took a

Bentley Continental Bentley Continental refers to several models of cars produced by Bentley Motors. Originally, it referred to a special chassis for engines more powerful than the usual offering, supplied to a selected number of coachbuilders for the fitting of v ...

car to impress a girl, but when she went off with another boy, Harry decided to take the car for a spin before dumping it. Swerving to avoid another car, he burst a tyre, but could not find any tools in the boot to change the wheel. A policeman on a bicycle stopped to help. At the policeman's suggestion, Harry asked a couple in a car parked in the copse nearby for help, but disturbed at being caught in an illicit tryst, they refused and drove away. Harry next flagged down a lorry to ask to borrow a

jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

. The lorry stopped, but a passenger immediately produced a gun and shot the policeman. Harry managed to grab the gun from the killer as the lorry drove away. A few minutes later, a police car arrived and Harry was arrested. Anne believes Harry's story and, having failed to persuade Bellamy of Harry's innocence, begins her own investigation, just as Harry is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. She visits Taplow, the owner of the stolen Bentley, and finds his account unconvincing. She also visits Harry's friends at their regular hangout, a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

in Battersea, and they agree to help her. They give her items that support details of Harry's story, but this evidence is not accepted by the authorities. Two boys search for the couple in the parked car, while one boy, Dirty Neck, takes a job at Taplow's frozen food depot to do some investigating there. Taplow meanwhile is pressured by Terence, an

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

operative, to resume illegal gun dealing activities, although Taplow wants to wait until after Harry is hanged. Harry's friends locate the courting couple, and they and Anne confront the couple in the park. The woman is ready to co-operate, but the man panics and in trying to get away crashes into a tree, killing himself and severely injuring his girlfriend, who then makes a useless statement. On the eve of Harry's execution, Dirty Neck informs Anne that something odd is happening at Taplow's warehouse. Anne goes there to investigate and is imprisoned by Terence in the cold store, but Taplow helps her escape, convincing the trigger-happy Terence not to shoot her. Anne calls the police who have actually been looking into the case again. It transpires that an IRA outfit are planning to rob an arms lorry on its way between bases, with Taplow supplying a delivery lorry to carry the guns. A previous attempt had been aborted because of a policeman intervening and being shot dead, for which the innocent Harry was blamed and now stands convicted. The police intercept Taplow and Terence driving the lorry full of arms and both men are fatally shot, but Taplow manages to give police a deathbed statement clearing Harry. Harry is released from prison, and rejoins his mates at the cafe.

Cast

* Anne Baxter – Doctor Anne Dyson *

– Phillip Bellamy QC *

– Harry Jukes * David Kernan – Socko * Frank Jarvis – Nobby * Peter Kriss – Dirty Neck *

– Jenny * Antony Booth – Gravy * Topsy Jane – Mona *

Jack MacGowran John Joseph MacGowran (13 October 1918 – 30 January 1973) was an Irish actor, probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett. Stage career MacGowran was born on 13 October 1918 in Dublin, and educated at Synge Street CBS. He establi ...

– Terence, the IRA man * Walter Brown – Max Taplow *

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– Sam *

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– Doris * Meredith Edwards – Johnson *

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– Lumley *

Russell Napier Russell Gordon Napier (28 November 1910 – 19 August 1974) was an Australian actor. Biography Russell Napier was born in Perth, Western Australia. Originally a lawyer, Napier was active as an actor on the stage as early as 1936; on the scree ...

– PC Jarrold *

Ed Devereaux Edward Sidney Devereaux (27 August 192517 December 2003), better known professionally as Ed Devereaux, was an Australian actor, director, and scriptwriter who lived in the United Kingdom for many years. He was best known for playing the part of ...

– Superintendent Malley *

Ray Barrett Raymond Charles Barrett (2 May 19278 September 2009) was an Australian actor. During the 1960s, he was a leading actor on British television, where he was best known for his appearances in ''The Troubleshooters'' (1965–1971). From the 1970s, ...

– Inspector Wagstaffe *

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...

– Jukes' Stepfather

References

External links

* {{Leslie Norman 1962 films 1962 crime drama films Films directed by Leslie Norman British crime drama films Films with screenplays by Ian Dalrymple Films produced by Victor Saville 1960s English-language films 1960s British films