Pink String and Sealing Wax **** (1945, Googie Withers, Mervyn Johns, Gordon Jackson, Sally Ann Howes, Mary Merrall, Garry Marsh, John Carol) – Classic Movie Review 2824

Ealing Studios’ 1945 British thriller film Pink String and Sealing Wax, set in 1880s Victorian Brighton, is most atmospheric and entertaining. Googie Withers stars as Pearl Bond, the scheming, adulterous wife of a pub owner involved in a murder.

Co-writer/director Robert Hamer’s Ealing Studios 1945 British thriller Pink String and Sealing Wax, set in 1880s Victorian Brighton, is most atmospheric and entertaining. Hamer and Diana Morgan’s screenplay is based on Roland Pertwee’s hit play.

Googie Withers stars as Pearl Bond, the scheming, adulterous wife of a pub owner, who charms David Sutton (Gordon Jackson), the innocent son of a rigid, puritanical pharmacist Mr Edward Sutton (Mervyn Johns) into parting with strychnine poison to bump off her drunken, abusive husband (Garry Marsh) so that she can be with her ne’er-do-well lover, Dan Powell (John Carol).

The result is a bit artificial and contrived, with some stiff acting in the lower ranks, and there is not enough of the brio that director Hamer showed later in his masterwork Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). This is his first solo feature as director after contributing to Dead of Night (1945).

But, still, the powerful, smouldering, slow-burning story is very well acted by the principals, and the film is thoroughly eerie and enjoyable none the less.

Also in the cast are Sally Ann Howes as Peggy Sutton, Mary Merrall as Mrs Ellen Sutton, Catherine Lacey, Jean Ireland, Frederick Piper, Maudie Edwards, Pauline Letts, Ronald Adam, Charles Carson, Valentine Dyall, David Keir and John Ruddock.

Pink String and Sealing Wax is directed by Robert Hamer, runs 91 minutes, is made by Ealing Studios, is released by Eagle-Lion Distributors (1945) (UK), is written by Diana Morgan and Robert Hamer, based on Roland Pertwee’s play, is shot in black and white by Stanley Pavey, is produced by Michael Balcon and S C Balcon (associate producer), and is scored by Norman Demuth, with Art Direction by Duncan Sutherland.

The US Production Code Administration rejected it and it was released without receiving its seal of approval because it showed details of a crime and ended with a suicide.

Hamer teamed up with Withers again for his next film, It Always Rains on Sunday (1947).

Victorian chemists would wrap drugs in a package sealed with pink string and sealing wax to show it had not been tampered with, and hence the title.

The cast are Googie Withers as Pearl Bond, Mervyn Johns as Mr Edward Sutton, Gordon Jackson as David Sutton, Sally Ann Howes as Margaret “Peggy” Sutton, Mary Merrall as Mrs. Ellen Sutton,  Jean Ireland as Victoria Sutton, Colin Simpson as James Sutton, David Wallbridge as Nicholas Sutton,  John Carol as Dan Powell, Catherine Lacey as Miss Porter the gossip, Garry Marsh as Joe Bond, Pauline Letts as Louise, Maudie Edwards as Mrs. Webster, Frederick Piper as Dr. Pepper, John Owers as barman Frank, Helen Goss as barmaid Maudie, Margaret Ritchie as Madame Adelina Patti, Don Stannard as John Bevan, John Ruddock as Judge, Ronald Adam as Clerk of the Court, Charles Carson as Editor, Valentine Dyall as Police Inspector, and David Keir as Stage Door Keeper.

The film premiered in London on 3 December 1945 at the Tivoli Cinema on The Strand and the Marble Arch Pavilion.

A 1949 version for TV followed, with stars Margaret Barton, Bruce Belfrage and John Benson.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2824

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