Hour of Decision ** (1957, Jeff Morrow, Hazel Court, Lionel Jeffries, Anthony Dawson) – Classic Movie Review 13,019

Tempean Films’ 1957 British black and white thriller film Hour of Decision stars Jeff Morrow as American journalist who probes the mystery of a hated columnist’s murder and tries to clear his own wife (Hazel Court) of blame.

‘TIME RAN OUT…for the Man They All Hated!’ ‘In the Depths of Murder and Intrigue’

Director C M Pennington-Richards’s 1957 British black and white mystery thriller film Hour of Decision, is produced by the Robert Baker and Monty Norman team for their Tempean Films company, and stars Jeff Morrow, Hazel Court, Lionel Jeffries, and Anthony Dawson.

Norman Hudis (from the Carry On movies) writes the screenplay, based on novel by Frederic Goldsmith, in this humble British B-movie, with not too much to boast about, though both the cast and the story are very acceptable.

Jeff Morrow stars as Joe Sanders, the American newspaperman probing the murder of a nasty fellow writer called Gary Bax (Anthony Dawson). During the hunt, Morrow discovers that the victim was rather more than just good friends with his wife Peggy Sanders (Hazel Court) and the standard whodunit story takes on a different dimension. A fairly predictable plot, effective in places, with reasonable dialogue, is acted with a sure touch by the established cast.

Also in the cast are Mary Laura Wood as Olive Bax, Carl Bernard as Inspector Gower, Vanda Godsell, Alan Gifford, Marne Maitland, Garard Green, Anthony Snell, Michael Balfour, Margaret Allworthy, Frank Atkinson,Anne Sharp, and Arthur Lowe as Calligraphy Expert.

Hour of Decision is directed by C M Pennington-Richards, runs 81 minutes, is made by Tempean Films, is released by Eros Films, is written by Norman Hudis, is shot in black and white by Stan Pavey, is produced by Robert Baker and Monty Norman, and scored by Stanley Black (musical director).

Tony Pendleton (played by Garard Green): ‘Mr Gary Bax was immoral, disloyal and thoroughly selfish. I calculate there are at least a dozen other men who feel the way I do, and any one of them who’s half-way decent would consider that killing Gary Bax was a public service – like clearing a blocked drain.’

Release date: May 1957 (UK).

It is produced by the Robert S Baker/ Monty Berman team for their British film production company Tempean Films that went on to great TV success with the 1956 ITV Saturday Serial programme The Trollenberg Terror, The Saint (1962 – 1969) and Gideon’s Way (1964 – 1965). Baker/ Berman also produced the 1958 film version of The Trollenberg Terror, the final film shot at Southall Studios.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,019

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