Fabian of the Yard *** (1954, Bruce Seton, Sarah Churchill, Richard Pearson, Gwen Cherrell, Diana Beaumont, Margaret Boyd) – Classic Movie Review 4595

Director Edward Thompson and co-director/ producer Antony Beauchamp’s 1954 British police procedural thriller stars Bruce Seton as the real-life Scotland Yard Superintendent Robert Fabian.

Taken from Fabian’s autobiographical book of memoirs, this trio of stories from the police detective’s files is based on the popular Fifties British TV series. The earliest police procedural show on British TV, Fabian of the Yard was made by the BBC and shown between November 1954 and February 1956, with 36 episodes of 30 minutes. Unusually for then, it was shot on film, with each episode dramatising a crime in the London area from the Twenties to the Fifties, and narrated by Seton.

Released to cinemas as a portmanteau feature in early 1955, the film is stitched together from three early episodes of the TV show – Death on the Portsmouth Road (a story about a serial killer), The Actress and the Kidnap Plot (a story about abduction and extortion) and Bombs in Piccadilly (a story about IRA terrorism).

The film is creaky and incredibly old-fashioned, but still quite a lot of old-style fun. Seton’s grave and gravelly authority is a substantial part of its success, but the stories are involving too. It typecast its star for ever – so much so that he could hardly find other work afterwards, and when he did it was often in small or uncredited roles, such as Policeman on Train in The 39 Steps (1959), the Patrolman in The League of Gentlemen (1960) or an uncredited part in Carry on Constable (1960).

Also in the cast are Sarah Churchill, Richard Pearson, Gwen Cherrell, Viola Lyel, Diana Beaumont, Howard Connell, Victor Maddern, Margaret Boyd, James Raglan and Ann Hanslip.

It is written by Rex Riemits and John Davenport, shot by Hilton Craig in black and white and released by Eros.

Bruce Seton was Major Sir Bruce Lovat Seton of Abercorn, 11th Baronet (29 May 1909 – 28 September 1969).

Diana Beaumont was born on May 8, 1909 in London and died on June 21, 1964.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4595

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com