Rent Now Barabbas (1949)
3.4 of 5 from 47 ratings
1h 57min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
This 1949 prison drama presents a kaleidoscope of criminals from every background. Each reveals the story of how they found themselves behind bars. The line-up of jailbirds includes Spencer (Kenneth More) and Brown (Leslie Dwyer), with Warder Jackson (William Hartnell - later the first Doctor Who) - as the tough screw who keeps them in line. Shot at Teddington Studios, the film features one of the earliest screen performances by Richard Burton (As Paddy). 'Now Barabbas' was produced by Anatole de Grunwald, a Russian-British film producer and screenwriter. The film was adapted from a play by politician and writer the Honourable William Douglas-Home, who had been jailed in 1944 for refusing to bomb Le Havre during the Second World War, as civilians would have been killed. He drew on his own experiences of imprisonment to create a realistic presentation of the range of issues faced by Britain's justice system in the 1940s. - Actors:
- Richard Greene, Cedric Hardwicke, Kathleen Harrison, Ronald Howard, Stephen Murray, William Hartnell, Beatrice Campbell, Richard Burton, Betty Ann Davies, Leslie Dwyer, Alec Clunes, Harry Fowler, Julian D'Albie, Kenneth More, Peter Doughty, Lily Kann, Percy Walsh, David Hannaford, Glyn Lawson, Gerald Case
- Directors:
- Gordon Parry
- Producers:
- Anatole de Grunwald
- Writers:
- Anatole de Grunwald, William Douglas-Home
- Aka:
- Which Will You Have? / Now Barabbas Was a Robber...
- Studio:
- Renown Pictures
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's 2025 Centenary Club: October - December: Part 2, A Brief History of Film...
