Final Appointment

Final Appointment
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Directed by	Terence Fisher
Written by	Kenneth Hayles
Based on	the BBC radio play Death Keeps a Date by Sidney Nelson & Maurice Harrison[1][2]
Produced by	Francis Searle
Starring	John Bentley Eleanor Summerfield Hubert Gregg
Cinematography	Jonah Jones
Edited by	John Ferris
Production company	ACT Films
Distributed by	Monarch Film Corporation
Release date	11 October 1954 (1954-10-11)
Running time	65 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Final Appointment (U.S. title: The Last Appointment [3]) is a 1954 British second feature ('B')[4] comedy thriller film directed by Terence Fisher, and starring John Bentley, Eleanor Summerfield and Hubert Gregg.[5][6] It also features Arthur Lowe, later to become famous for his portrayal of Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army, in an early role.[7] The film was produced by Francis Searle for ACTFilms.[8] A sequel, Stolen Assignment, also featuring sleuthing journalists Mike Billings and Jenny Drew, was released the following year.[9]

Plot

A former soldier who was court-martialled during the Second World War sets out to murder the officers who passed sentence on him. After the lawyer who acted for the prosecution at the court martial receives threatening letters a newspaper reporter and his wisecracking girlfriend try to track down the killer.

Cast

• John Bentley as Mike Billings
• Eleanor Summerfield as Jenny Drew
• Hubert Gregg as Hartnell
• Liam Redmond as Inspector Corcoran
• Meredith Edwards as Tom Martin
• Jean Lodge as Laura Robens
• Sam Kydd as Vickery
• Charles Farrell as Percy
• Peter Bathurst as Harold Williams
• Arthur Lowe as Barratt
• Gerald Case as Australian official
• Jessica Cairns as War Office typist
• Tony Hilton as Jimmy
• Henry de Bray as restaurant manager
• John Watson as Police Sergeant

Production

The film was shot at Walton Studios outside London.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Formula crime melodrama, in which a clever young journalist solves a crime in the intervals of exchanging back-chat with his reporter girl friend and a police inspector."[10]

Kine Weekly described the film as an "inconsequential crime melodrama."[11]

The Radio Times gave the film two out of five stars, calling it a "capable thriller."[12]

References

1. Hutchings, Peter (1 January 2001). Terence Fisher. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719056376 – via Google Books.
2. "Hubert Gregg and Andrew Cruickshank in ' DEATH KEEPS A DATE' - BBC Home Service Basic - 25 February 1954 - BBC Genome". 25 February 1954.
3. "Reel Streets".
4. Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
5. "Final Appointment". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
6. "Final Appointment (1954) - Terence Fisher - Cast and Crew - AllMovie".
7. "Final Appointment (1954)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
8. Action! Fifty Years in the Life of a Union. Published: 1983 (UK). Publisher: ACTT. ISBN 0 9508993 0 5. ACT Films Limited - Ralph Bond p81 (producer listed as Francis Searle)
9. "Britmovie - Home of British Films". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
10. "Final Appointment". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 21 (240): 161. 1 January 1954. ProQuest 1305814422 – via ProQuest.
11. "Final Appointment". Kine Weekly. 464 (2524): 37. 10 November 1955. ProQuest 2738580861 – via ProQuest.
12. "Final Appointment - Film from RadioTimes".

External links

• Final Appointment at IMDb