Delayed Action ** (1954, Robert Ayres, June Thorburn, Alan Wheatley) – Classic Movie Review 13,318

Director John Harlow’s 1954 British film noir mystery film Delayed Action is written by Geoffrey Orme, and stars Robert Ayres, Alan Wheatley, June Thorburn and Bruce Seton.

Delayed Action is standard, over-familiar crime thriller fare from the prolific Robert S Baker and Monty Berman production team, who founded Tempean Films. It is produced by Kenilworth Film Productions as a second feature for release by General Film Distributors and shot at Alliance Film Studios, Twickenham, Middlesex, England.

The complicated, artificial plot involves Alan Wheatley as a financier named Mark Cruden with a gang of crooks who give money to a suicidal flop writer called Ned Ellison (Robert Ayres) to confess to their crime and kill himself in the event of their crime backfiring.

Ned Ellison (Ayres) is to postpone his suicide until the corpse is wanted by the thieves, but then he has a chance to think again and wants to live.

Delayed Action is a modest but acceptable thriller that is held down by its slow pace and slack plotting. But the unusual premise at least promises something a bit different, and the performances from a pleasing star and support cast are polished enough, providing the film’s main enjoyment. Alan Wheatley certainly makes the most of it. Is the plot engrossing or it it just preposterous? Both maybe.

Release date: 6 September 1954.

The cast

The cast are Robert Ayres as Ned Ellison, June Thorburn as Anne Curlew, Alan Wheatley as Mark Cruden, Bruce Seton as Sellars, Michael Balfour as Honey, Michael Kelly as Lobb, John Horsley as Worsley, Olive Kirby as Angela Bentley, Ballard Berkeley as Inspector Crane, Ian Fleming as Dr Jepson, Myrtle Reed as Jackie, Dennis Chinnery as Bank cashier, Charles Lamb as Bank clerk, Arthur Hewlett as Battersby, Frederick Leister as Sir Francis Henry, Trevor Reid, and Myles Rudge.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,318

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