''Judgment Deferred'' is a 1952 British

second feature A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, s ...

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 Baxter and starring

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

Hugh Sinclair Admiral Sir Hugh Francis Paget Sinclair, (18 August 1873 – 4 November 1939), known as Quex Sinclair, was a British intelligence officer. He was Director of British Naval Intelligence between 1919 and 1921, and he subsequently helped to se ...

, Helen Shingler and

Abraham Sofaer Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1 October 1896 – 21 January 1988) was a Burmese-born British actor who began his career on stage and became a familiar supporting player in film and on television in his later years. Life and career Sofaer was born in R ...

. It was written by Barbara K. Emary, Walter Meade and Geoffrey Orme. The film is a remake of the director's earlier film, '' Doss House'' (1933).

Plot

With the assistance of a journalist a group of refugees and down and outs try and unmask the criminal who has framed one of their number as a drug dealer.

Cast

as David Kennedy * Helen Shingler as Kay Kennedy *

as Chancellor *

Leslie Dwyer Leslie Gilbert Dwyer (28 August 1906 – 26 December 1986) was an English film and television actor. Career He was born in Catford, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer, and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his firs ...

as Flowers *

as Lil Carter * Harry Locke as Bert *

Elwyn Brook-Jones Elwyn Brook-Jones (11 December 1911 – 4 September 1962) was a British theatre, film and television actor. Early life According to his obituary in ''The Times'', Brook-Jones was born in Sarawak on the island of Borneo; however, other sources pl ...

as Coxon * Marcel Poncin as Stranger * Martin Benson as Pierre Desportes * Bud Flannagan as himself * Bransby Williams as dad * Michael Martin Harvey as Martin *

Harry Welchman Harry Welchman (24 February 1886 – 3 January 1966) was an English star of musical theatre. He made several appearances in non-musical plays, but was remembered as, in the words of ''The Times'', "perhaps the most popular musical comedy hero on t ...

as Doc * Wilfred Walter as Judge *

Maire O'Neill Maire O'Neill (born Mary Agnes Allgood; 11 January 1886 – 2 November 1952) was an Irish actress of stage and film. She holds a place in theatre history as the first actress to interpret the lead character of Pegeen Mike Flaherty in John Mill ...

as Mrs. O'Halloran *

Mary Merrall Mary Merrall (5 January 1890 – 31 August 1973), born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work. Stage career Merrall's stage career started in her teens, making her first stag ...

as Lady Musterby *

Edgar Driver Edgar Driver (1 November 188515 September 1964) was a British actor."Edgar Driver"
at BFI.

Selec ...

as Blackie * Billy Russell as Ginger *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British actor. Most of his film roles were very small but he appeared in more than 290 films, more than any other British actor, including 119 between 1946 and 1952. His best-known ro ...

as ambulance driver

Production

The film was shot at Southall Studios with sets designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Don Russell. It was the first production from

Group 3 Films Group 3 Films was a short lived British film production company that operated from 1951 to 1955. Background It was set up by the National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) to help finance movies from newer filmmakers. Its films were to be distribu ...

, a company formed to encourage new young British film-makers (which later produced ''

The Brave Don't Cry ''The Brave Don't Cry'' is a 1952 British drama film directed by Philip Leacock and starring John Gregson, Meg Buchanan and John Rae. The film depicts the events of September 1950 at the Knockshinnoch Castle colliery in Scotland, where 129 m ...

'', ''

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'', '' The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp'' and several other low-budget features).

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: "''Judgment Deferred'' revives many elements of an earlier John Baxter film, '' The Common Touch''; as a piece of story-telling it is confused and unexciting, frequently sidetracked into episodes of naive sentimentality and crude comedy. The script, in fact, is a concoction of contrived melodrama and irrelevant detail, and the characterisation is lifeless. All this, combined with the artificial sets and lighting, reminds one of the lower grade British picture of the 30's; the increased smoothness is hardly a satisfactory disguise." ''

The Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' described the film as "a muddled, maudlin melodrama that feels like substandard

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...

done by amateur theatricals." ''

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 ...

'' found the film "captivating mainly because of the novelty of the story and the many strange characters that are introduced."

Sky Movies Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on ...

wrote "this one occasionally creaks under the strain of its longish running time but offers some striking tableaux, especially within the weird 'court' held by a crowd of criminals, eccentrics and jobless that in some ways recalls the 'jury' that proved the nemesis of

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

's classic thriller ' M'."

References

External links

* {{John Baxter 1952 films British crime drama films 1952 crime drama films 1950s English-language films Films directed by John Baxter Films set in London Films shot at Southall Studios Remakes of British films British black-and-white films 1950s British films Films scored by Kennedy Russell English-language crime drama films