Murder at 3am
Original Australian poster
Directed byFrancis Searle
Written byJohn Ainsworth
Moie Charles (additional dialogue)
Story byJohn Ainsworth
Produced byJohn Ainsworth
David Henley
StarringDennis Price
Peggy Evans
Rex Garner
CinematographyS.D. Onions
Edited byAdam Dawson
Music byEric Spear
Production
companies
David Henley Productions
Renown Pictures Corporation
Release date
  • July 1953 (1953-07) (UK)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British crime film second feature[1]:172 directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner.[2] A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.

Plot

There have been a series of attacks on women walking home in the early hours, and now a woman has been found murdered. Chief Inspector Peter Lawton investigates. His suspicion falls on Edward King, an ex-commando who is engaged to Lawton's sister Joan. He uses Joan to trap King, but King flees. It transpires that King is innocent; the killer is his half-brother Jim.

Cast

Critical reception

Kine Weekly said "The exuberant, if somewhat lurid and extravagent, yarn unfolds again bright night-club and realistic nocturnal London street scenes which cunningly create an illusion of scope. For its size it carries quite a kick. ";[3] Monthly Film Bulletin said "A second-rate thriller, unimaginatively directed; the cast attempts to make something out of the too-familiar dialogue and situations."[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Shabby 'B' feature, tiresomely made"[5]

To-Day's Cinema called it an "efficient specimen" of the crime thriller.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2018) [2009]. The British 'B' Film. London and New York City: Bloomsbury/BFI. p. 152. ISBN 9781844575749.
  2. "Murder at 3 a.m." British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  3. "Murder at 3 a.m." Kine Weekly. 436 (2403): 22. 16 July 1953 via ProQuest.
  4. "Murder at 3 a.m." Monthly Film Bulletin. 20 (228): 135. 1 January 1953 via ProQuest.
  5. Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 349. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.


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