Rent Tall Headlines (1952)
2.6 of 5 from 50 ratings
1h 31min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
A dramatic British film of a family tom apart by their eldest son Ronnie being hanged for the murder of a young girl. George and Mary Rackham (Andre Morell and Flora Robson) try to erase the memory of Ronnie and the ghoulish attention of neighbours by moving away from their family home, and changing the family name. Their children however, Philip (Michael Dennison) and Frankie (Jane Hylton), struggle to adapt to normal family life without their executed brother. When Philip falls in love with the blonde temptress, Doris (Mai Zetterling), he begins to imagine that his dead brother has returned and he fears for his own sanity. Rejected by his sister for falling in love with a girl who is identical to the cheap hussy that led Ronnie astray, Philip begins to fear the murderous instinct that possessed Ronnie, is also within his veins... - Actors:
- André Morell, Flora Robson, Michael Denison, Jane Hylton, Mervyn Johns, Dennis Price, Hugh Dempster, Michael Ward, Mai Zetterling, Olive Sloane, Peter Burton, Barbara Blair, Celia Lipton, Don Phillips, Joan Hickson
- Directors:
- Terence Young
- Producers:
- Raymond Stross
- Writers:
- Audrey Erskine-Lindop, Dudley Leslie
- Aka:
- The Frightened Bride
- Studio:
- Odeon Entertainment
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s
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Reviews (1) of Tall Headlines
A New Moon... Through Glass - Tall Headlines review by CH
The noose often swings at the end of a film. Such a morning at eight occurs early in Tall Headlines (1952), when one son is hanged for the murder of a young woman on Putney Common; the rest of it concerns the next life; that is, for his parents, sister and brother who fear for their chances in tittle-tattle suburbia, and so - undercover of night - they exchange a fine house with a tennis court for somewhere on the South Coast, above the cliffs to the east of Brighton (a number 12 coach is glimpsed heading in that direction).
Also exchanging the family name of Rackham for Blake, the remaining children (Michael Denison, Jane Hylton) take up more modest work than they had expected (motor mechanic, dentist's receptionist) while their father and mother (André Morell, Flora Robson) also fret about the part they may have played in nurturing a murderer - and promulgating fears Denison has the same gene.
There is a continual sense of unease, caught well in cramped settings by director Terence Young (perhaps best known for some of the early Bond escapades), with a measure of light provided by the garage at which Denison works near the cliffs. There he meets, and falls for Mai Zetterling, a situation complicated by her resembling the murdered woman, which brings out the venom in Jane Hylton who is bitter at missing a chance as singer with a band led by Dennis Price (another delightful surprise appearance).
All this must have made for an uncommonly bleak evening at the pictures seventy years ago (although there is a brilliant cameo by Joan Hickson as a waitress who could have inspired many a Monty Python woman: "cold fillet's off!").
It is not perfect, but, then again, it does not up the emotional ratchet into Tennessee Williams territory, but steers more effectively close in such moments as Mai Zetterling looking up from a brass bed to marvel at the New Moon - and then realise that to do so through glass brings bad luck.
To watch Tall Headlines is to realise that we all have a noose around the neck - and scant idea of when it will draw close.
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