Name: Behind the Headlines
Genre: Crime
Released: 1953-10-09
Duration: 53 min
Rating: 3.7
Cast: Gilbert Harding, John Fitzgerald, Adrienne Scott

A Movie That Makes You Feel Sorry For Its Director

This seems to have been intended to be a semi-documentary movie about how Scotland Yard investigates a murder. Unfortunately, this is an E.J. Fancy production. You steel yourself for some awfulness caused by the incredible cheapness of the producers made evident in the stupidest way possible. This one does not disappoint in its ability to disappoint.

The most obvious and worst parsimony of the production is that all of the actual investigation is shot wild and in long shot. We see people walking around the docklands of London, we see people in white lab coats looking at things, and the only explanation of what, if anything, is going on, is provided by Gilbert Harding sitting in an office, telling John Fitzgerald how wonderful the police of Britain are. He does not discuss the case at hand, nor give much of a cue as to what the putative detectives, constables and scientists are doing in particular. He notes there are specialty labs for each aspect of police work scattered through England, that the Yard has call on the nation's top scientists, and that they are better organized than the criminals of London.

I looked at a Pathescope cutdown of this movie, 41 minutes instead of 53. Sometimes I wonder if the abridgements have cut meat and bone from a movie. Not here. Director Maclean Rogers was not a great director, but he was an honest drudge given a chance. He was not given one here. Cinematographer Geoffrey Faithfull's compositions seem competent, which is not surprising, but given the fuzzy print, it's impossible to tell anything more; Fancy would have used the cheapest film lab he could find, unlike the police he vaunts in this awful, awful film.

I could say much more, but what's the point?

The crime genre features criminal activities, investigations, law enforcement, crimes, and the pursuit of justice. Crime stories often revolve around the planning, execution, and consequences of criminal acts, as well as the efforts to solve and prevent such acts. They explore various aspects of criminal behavior, motives, and the moral dilemmas faced by both perpetrators and those seeking to uphold the law.

James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)

Gilbert Harding is interviewed by John Fitzgerald and tells how Scotland Yard tracks down lorry thieves who killed a night watchman. (Authentic hospital operation scenes)

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