The Long Memory

The Long Memory

Original British 1953 quad film poster
Directed by Robert Hamer
Produced by Hugh Stewart
Screenplay by Robert Hamer
Frank Harvey
Based on The Long Memory (novel) 
by Howard Clewes
Starring John Mills
John McCallum
Elizabeth Sellars
Geoffrey Keen
Music by William Alwyn
Cinematography Harry Waxman
Edited by Gordon Hales
Production
company
Rank Organisation
Europa Films
British Film-Makers
Distributed by GFD (UK)
Release dates
  • 23 January 1953 (1953-01-23) (UK [1])
Running time
 96 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Box office £110,000[2]

The Long Memory is a black and white 1953 film directed by Robert Hamer and based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Howard Clewes. A crime thriller filmed on the North Kent Marshes on the Thames Estuary and the dingy backstreets of Gravesend, mainly Queen Street (now partly demolished), its bleak setting and grim atmosphere have led to its acclaim as a British example of film noir.[3]

Plot

Phillip Davidson (John Mills) boards a boat and embraces Fay Driver (Elizabeth Sellars). Then he goes down below to try to convince her father, Captain Driver, not to involve Fay in his criminal activity. However, Boyd (John Chandos) brings aboard Delaney (a man he has agreed to smuggle out of the country) and two henchmen. When Boyd demands that Delaney pay him £500, rather than £200, a fight erupts, and Boyd knocks Delaney out. The boat catches fire, attracting the attention of the authorities, and Davidson is fished out of the water. A charred corpse is found in the sunken boat. The Drivers and Tim Pewsey perjure themselves by identifying the dead man as Boyd, rather than Delaney, and claiming there was no other man present. This leads to Davidson's conviction for Boyd's murder. He spends 12 years in prison.

Upon his release, he sets out to get even with the witnesses. He is kept under surveillance by the police on the orders of Superintendent Bob Lowther (John McCallum), who is married to Fay. Living rough on the barge, Davidson begins searching for the witnesses. When newspaperman Craig comes to see him, Davidson throws him out, but Craig tumbles down an open hatch and is knocked unconscious. Davidson carries him out. When he awakens, Craig informs Davison that Captain Driver drank himself to death four years before.

Three people attempt - initially unsuccessfully - to befriend Davidson; Jackson, a kindly old hermit from whom he rents the barge; Ilse, a traumatised wartime refugee who falls in love with him after he (inadvertently) rescues her from being attacked by a sailor and allows her to stay overnight on the barge; and Craig, who suspects him to be innocent.

On Davidson's trail are Lowther and Craig. Davidson stalks Pewsey and frightens him into confessing to Lowther that there was another man present.

Lowther's marriage comes under increasing tension as he considers the possibility of his wife's perjury. Finally, she confesses she did lie to protect her father. Lowther tells her that he will have to resign. She goes to see "George Barry", who turns out to be Boyd, and asks him for money to leave the country. However, when he does not show up at the rendezvous at London Waterloo station, she attempts to commit suicide, but her husband, tipped off by her farewell letter, has policemen stationed there; they stop her from jumping in front of an oncoming train.

Ilse persuades Davidson to give up his dream of revenge and start a new life with her. However, by sheer chance, he is hired to deliver a letter to Boyd. Davidson confronts Boyd in his office, but ends up being pursued by Boyd and his chauffeur. Boyd shoots Davidson in the arm. Davidson flees to the barge, but Boyd is waiting for him. After a chase, Boyd is about to kill Davidson when he is shot dead by Jackson. Ilse and Davidson refuse further help from the police, leaving to deal with their pasts together.

Cast

Production

The film was made at Pinewood Studios and on location in Kent around Gravesend and at Shad Thames in London. It was the last film of Henry Edwards, a major British star of the 1920s and 1930s, who had a small role as a judge early in the film.

Premiere and reception

The film had its gala premiere at the Leicester Square Theatre on 22 January 1953, with Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester as guests of honour,[4] and went on general release the following day.[1] The Times film reviewer found the film a bit dull and self-important, but gave director Hamer credit for "effective use of the film's natural background, the mud and desolation of the flats of the Thames Estuary."[5]

References

  1. 1 2 The Times, 23 January 1953, page 2: Classified Advertising, Picture Theatres, Leicester Square Theatre - found in The Times Digital Archive 2013-11-21
  2. ↑ BFI Collections: Michael Balcon Papers H3 reprinted in British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference By Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p 41
  3. ↑ European Film Noir, Andrew Spicer, Manchester University Press, 2008, ISBN 0-7190-6790-1
  4. ↑ The Times, 23 January 1953, page 8: Court Cicular - found in The Times Digital Archive 2013-11-21
  5. ↑ The Times, 23 January 1953, page 2: Film review, "The Long Memory" - found in The Times Digital Archive 2013-11-21

External links

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