''Four Days'' is a 1951 British second feature ('B')

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

John Guillermin Yvon Jean Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015), known as John Guillermin, was an English film director, writer and producer. Working both in the United Kingdom and the United States, he was most active in big-budget, action-adventure f ...

. It was written by Lindsay Galloway and J. MacLaren Ross based on the 1945 play of the same name by

Monckton Hoffe Monckton Hoffe (1880–1951) was an Irish playwright and screenwriter. Early life On 26 December 1880, Hoffe was born in Connemara, Ireland. His full name was Reaney Monckton Hoffe-Miles. Career Hoffe was known for his romantic comedies a ...

Plot

Businessman Francis Templar suspects his neglected wife Lucienne of having an affair with his business partner's son Johnny. When the two of them confess, Templar refuses to give his wife a divorce and she retaliates by trying to poison him. Johnny however, intervenes, and manages to prevent the murder. During the next few days, Lucienne comes to realise she loves her husband after all; but Templar, believing his wife is about to leave him, attempts suicide by jumping off a cliff. He survives the fall, but loses all memory of the previous four days. Now an amnesiac, Templar is blissfully in love with his devoted wife. However, she fears their happiness is only temporary, and dreads the return of her husband's memory. To make matters worse, Johnny then reappears to blackmail Lucienne, threatening to reveal all to her husband.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "An unconvincing story, with a happy ending which the wife's previous behaviour makes ridiculous, does not gain from indifferent construction and from the short running time which telescopes the twists of the plot. Peter Reynolds is good as the detestable lover; the other performances are indifferent, and the director relies overmuch on the use of low angle camera shots." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' gave the film two out of five stars, noting "A ludicrous melodrama which manages to pull off a couple of gripping scenes." ''

Filmink ''FilmInk'' is an Australian film magazine published by FKP International Exports. It was founded by current publisher Dov Kornits and Colin Fraser in July 1997, in Sydney. The magazine has been through many changes over the course of its exist ...

'' said "It's short, taut and lots of fun; Guillermin's direction is energetic, and there are excellent performances from Kathleen Byron and Reynolds."

References

External links

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Four Days
at Reel Streets {{John Guillermin Films directed by John Guillermin 1951 films Films based on works by Monckton Hoffe British drama films 1951 drama films British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films