''Time Without Pity'' is a 1957 British

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American film and theatre director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Hollywood ...

and starring

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English actor and filmmaker. Beginning his career in theatre, he first appeared in the West End in 1937. He made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' ...

, Ann Todd,

Leo McKern Reginald "Leo" McKern (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in ...

Paul Daneman Paul Frederick Daneman (29 October 1925 – 28 April 2001) was an English film, television, and theatre actor. He was successful for more than 40 years on stage, film and television. Early life Paul Daneman was born in Islington, London. He a ...

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition f ...

Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. Early life McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dancer ...

and Renee Houston. It is about a father trying to save his son from execution for murder. The film was directed by Losey after he was

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

in the U.S. during the McCarthy era. It was his second film in Britain and his first under his own name. The screenplay was written by fellow blacklisted writer

Ben Barzman Ben Barzman (October 12, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and known best for his screenplays for the movies '' Back to Bataan'' (1945), ''El Cid'' (1961), and ...

and adapted from the 1953 play ''

Someone Waiting ''Someone Waiting'' is a 1953 thriller play by the British writer Emlyn Williams. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool before transferring to the Globe Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 156 performances between 25 Nov ...

'' by

Emlyn Williams George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flintshi ...

Plot

David Graham, a recovering alcoholic, returns to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

having only one day in which to save his son Alec from

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

for the murder of Alec's girlfriend, Jenny Cole. Graham has been a neglectful, absentee father who missed the entire trial while he was in a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. At first, Alec refuses to see Graham, and when they do meet, Alec is without any hope for reprieve and cannot show any affection for his father. His sobriety in constant jeopardy, Graham believes that his son is innocent and begins a frantic last-minute effort to find evidence that will save his son's life, if not redeem himself as a father. With the help of his son's steadfast solicitor, Graham desperately, and often ineffectively, investigates the circumstances surrounding the girl's murder, visiting first her furious sister and then the home of wealthy car magnate Robert Stanford, where the girlfriend was killed. Stanford and his family have provided the only real support that Alec has ever known. Graham ricochets between potential allies, foes and new leads in order to learn who the real murderer could be, with suspects including Stanford's beautiful wife Honor, his even younger secretary Vickie Harker and his adopted son who's Alec's best friend, Brian, who allows Graham to see what his own misspent life looked like through his son's eyes. With the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

on standby to receive any evidence proving Alec's innocence, Graham is forced to extreme measures to try to establish the real killer's guilt. In a private room, Graham is permitted a final meeting with his son, with Honor there. Alec passionately kisses Honor, adding a new dimension. The conversation also alludes to Alec's relationship with Jenny. Honor leaves to allow father and son a final embrace, and more confessions are made. Graham visits a pub with Stanford and gathers some more clues before getting very drunk. Going to a theatre, he finds Stanford's alibi of spending the night with an actress was not actually true. He confronts Stanford at his race track where he is test-driving a Mercedes 300SL. Stanford explains that anyone can be bought and offers Graham shares in his company in exchange for silence. Still lacking evidence, in desperation Graham sacrifices his own life to create the appearance of a second act of murder by Stanford, thereby incriminating him for the first killing and saving Alec's life.

Cast

as David Graham * Ann Todd as Honor Stanford *

as Robert Stanford *

as Brian Stanford *

as Jeremy Clayton *

as Alec Graham *

Renée Houston Renée Houston (born Katherina Rita Murphy Gribbin; 24 July 1902 – 9 February 1980) was a Scottish comedy actress and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles. Biography Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, into a theatrical family ...

as Mrs. Harker *

Lois Maxwell Lois Ruth Maxwell (née Hooker; February 14, 1927 – September 29, 2007) was a Canadian actress. She was best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Eon Productions, Eon-produced James Bond in film, ''James Bond'' films (1962–1 ...

as Vickie Harker *

Richard Wordsworth Richard Curwen Wordsworth (19 January 1915 – 21 November 1993) was an English character actor. He was the great-great-grandson of the poet William Wordsworth. As a young man he followed in the footsteps of his clergyman father, reading ...

as Maxwell *

George Devine George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

as Barnes *

Joan Plowright Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier (; 28 October 1929 – 16 January 2025), commonly known as Dame Joan Plowright, was an English actress whose career spanned over six decades. She received several accolades including two Golden Globe Awards, an ...

as Agnes Cole *

Ernest Clark Ernest Clark MC (12 February 1912 – 11 November 1994) was a British actor of stage, television and film. Early life Clark was the son of a master builder in Maida Vale, and was educated nearby at St Marylebone Grammar School. After leaving ...

as Undersecretary, Home Office * Peter Copley as prison chaplain *

Hugh Moxey Hugh Vincent Moxey (27 September 1909, Somerset, – 9 March 1991, Wandsworth), was a British film and television actor. Moxey spanned his career for 40 years, where he was best remembered in supporting roles in 1950s British war films, incl ...

as prison governor *

Dickie Henderson Richard Matthew Michael Henderson, Order of the British Empire, OBE (30 October 1922 – 22 September 1985) was an English entertainer. Early years Henderson was born in London. His father, Dick Henderson (1891–1958), was a music hall ...

as comedian *

John Chandos Sir John Chandos, Viscount of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Saint-Sauveur in the Cotentin Peninsula, Cotentin, Constable of Aquitaine, Seneschal of Count of Poitiers, Poitou, (c. 1320 – 31 December 1369) was a medieval English knight who haile ...

as first journalist * Vernon Greeves as second journalist * Arnold Diamond as third journalist * Julian Somers as first warder * Aubrey Richards as prison gatekeeper

Production

Freddie Francis Frederick William Francis (22 December 1917 – 17 March 2007) was an English cinematographer and film director whose filmmaking career spanned over 60 years, from the late 1930s until the late 2000s. One of the most celebrated British cinemato ...

liked working with Losey "because he was very nervous, hadn't done a film for a long time and needed a lot of help. And I like it when people need help. "

Critical reception

''Kinematograph Weekly'' said it "met with a favourable reception." ''

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 ...

'' said "Although it is rumoured that Joseph Losey has been employed on several British productions, ''Time Without Pity'' is the first feature film to credit his name since his arrival in this country six years ago. The style of the film is immediately recognisable – the exaggerated hysteria which characterised Losey's American work ('' M'' and ''The Big Night''). The key scenes are heightened to a pitch which the script will hardly sustain; the characters are continually occupied with feverish, cinematic "'business" (newspaper editors punctuating their conversation with dart-throwing, a drunken old woman in a crowded room full of alarm clocks). The handling of the interestingly varied cast is creditable: Michael Redgrave gives a sensitive and accomplished interpretation of the difficult role of the introspective alcoholic. Alec McCowen as the son and Leo McKern as the crazed motor-manufacturer both give stylish performances. In the version seen by the reviewer, there appear to have been considerable cuts in a climactic scene of violence." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Stylishly acted, but over-directed drama. Very sombre."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Heavy-going, introspective, hysterical, downbeat melodrama which takes itself with a seriousness which is almost deadly." ''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 ...

Guide to Films'' gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Although the story of a father trying to save his son from the gallows is supposed to be a thriller, Losey places so much emphasis on the capital punishment angle that the social theme too often swamps the suspense. Michael Redgrave is solid, however, as the alcoholic dad fighting against time."

References

External links

* * *
Derek Winnert review
{{Joseph Losey 1950s crime thriller films 1957 films British crime thriller films British drama films Films about capital punishment British films based on plays Films directed by Joseph Losey 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Films scored by Tristram Cary English-language crime thriller films