Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British second feature: 172 crime film directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner. It was written by John Ainsworth. A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.
Plot
There have been a series of attacks on women walking home in the early hours, and now a woman has been found murdered. Chief Inspector Peter Lawton investigates. His suspicion falls on Edward King, an ex-commando who is engaged to Lawton's sister Joan. He uses Joan to trap King, but King flees. It transpires that King is innocent; the killer is his half-brother Jim.
Cast
- Dennis Price as Chief Inspector Peter Lawton
- Peggy Evans as Joan Lawton
- Rex Garner as Detective Sergeant Todd
- Arnold Bell as Assistant Commissioner McMann
- Greta Mayaro as Lena
- Philip Saville as Edward 'Teddy' King/Jim King
- Leonard Sharp as Old Skip
- Nora Gordon as Nanna
- Renee Goddard as Lady Branstead
- Arthur Lovegrove as Inspector Cobb
- Daphne Maddox as victim
- Robert Weeden as CID constable
- John Davis as transmitting constable (uncredited)
Critical reception
Kine Weekly said "The exuberant, if somewhat lurid and extravagent, yarn unfolds against bright night-club and realistic nocturnal London street scenes which cunningly create an illusion of scope. For its size it carries quite a kick."
Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A second-rate thriller, unimaginatively directed; the cast attempts to make something out of the too-familiar dialogue and situations."
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Shabby 'B' feature, tiresomely made"
To-Day's Cinema called it an "efficient specimen" of the crime thriller.
References
External links
- Murder at 3am at IMDb
