Mr Denning Drives North
7.2 /10 1 Votes
Director Anthony Kimmins Country England | 7/10 IMDb Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 21 January 1952 Based on novel by Alec Coppel Writer Alec Coppel (novel), Alec Coppel (screenplay) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Denning Drives North is a 1951 British mystery film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring John Mills, Phyllis Calvert and Eileen Moore. The plot concerns an aircraft manufacturer (Mills) who accidentally kills the boyfriend (Herbert Lom) of his daughter (Moore) and tries to dispose of the body. Alec Coppel wrote the script, adapted from his own novel. It was made at Shepperton Studios.
Contents
Plot
Aircraft manufacturer Tom Denning is married to Kay; they have a daughter, Liz. Lis is dating Mados who Tom accidentally kills. Tom disposes of the body in a ditch.
Torn with guilt he goes back to pick up the body only to find it has disappeared.
Cast
Original novel
The film was based on a novel by Coppel that was published in late 1950.
The Washington Post thought the Rolls Royce "made more sense than any of the alleged human characters... a bit pretentious."
Production
Film rights were bought by Alexander Korda's London Films. John Mills' casting was announced in May 1951. It was Mills' first film in almost two years.
Sam Wanamaker had been living in England since 1949 and was offered the part after writing to his agent from holiday in France asking if any jobs were going.
Australian actor Trader Faulkner had a small role as a gypsy.
Box Office
The film performed poorly at the British box office.
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote, "this little melodrama serves as still another reminder, from a country that jolly well knows how to exercise it, that restraint can work minor wonders...Persuasive and tingling, minus one false note... No doubt about it. The British have what it takes."
References
Mr. Denning Drives North WikipediaMr. Denning Drives North IMDb Mr. Denning Drives North themoviedb.org