Time Without Pity (1957)

Time Without Pity
Directed by Joseph Losey
Written by Ben Barzman from a play by Emlyn Williams
1957/UK
Harlequin Productions Ltd.
First viewing/Hulu

[box] Brian Stanford: I got the impression you were about to write the greatest novel ever written. Did you?

David Graham: In common with quite a lot of other writers… I had been about to write it for a very long time. [/box]

I loved the acting and direction but thought the story let the film down.

As the movie starts, we witness Robert Stanford (Leo McKern) go into a rage and murder a dancer.  We segue to the present.  Novelist David Graham (Michael Redgrave) returns to England.  He is met at the airport by his son’s lawyer Jeremy Clayton (Peter Cushing). David’s son Alec is to be executed the next day.  David rushes to the prison.  Alec is not happy to see him.  David had been in a sanitarium recovering from his chronic alcoholism and had not written to the boy since before the murder.  Alec is resigned to his fate and does not want his father to rock the boat now.

David, however, cannot resist trying to prove his son’s innocence in the few hours remaining to him.  The investigation centers on the Stanford family, with whom Alec lived. Obviously, Robert is not anxious to help David but his wife Honor (Ann Todd) loves Alec and defies her husband.  The investigation does not start well and at each setback David starts drinking again.  Can he stay sober long enough to clear his son before the hangman gets to him?

This movie looks good and this cast is a strong one.  The problem is the plot.  It is far too complicated for something that is supposed to span only a few hours.  When all the drinking is added in as a challenge, it becomes completely implausible.  I thought the ending was a cheat as well.  Pity as I was looking forward to this.

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