Lost (1956)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Guy Green

Writer:

Janet Green (original screenplay)

Release Date:

4 January 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Hitchcock Couldn't Top This For Sheer Suspense!

Plot:

An 18 month old baby dissapears in London. Detective Inspector Craig tries to find the child but there aren't many clues. |

Cast

David Farrar	...	Det. Insp. Craig
David Knight	...	Lee Cochrane
Julia Arnall	...	Sue Cochrane
Anthony Oliver	...	Sgt. Lyel
Thora Hird	...	Kelly's landlady
Eleanor Summerfield	...	Sgt. Cook
Anne Paige	...	Nanny
Marjorie Rhodes	...	Mrs. Jeffries
Anna Turner	...	Mrs. Robey
Everley Gregg	...	Viscountess
Meredith Edwards	...	Sgt. Davies
Irene Prador	...	Mitzi
Anita Sharp-Bolster	...	Miss Gill (as Anita Bolster)
Beverley Brooks	...	Pam
Brenda Hogan	...	Sue's secretary

Also Known As:

Tears for Simon (USA)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Beachy Head, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Sydney Box Associates

Trivia:

This film marked the film debut of Barbara Windsor. In an early scene, she is one of the two girls choosing cosmetics in the Chemist shop, from the outside of which the "Lost" baby is kidnapped.

Fate Of The Juggler.

When a 18 month old baby disappears from outside a chemist in London, Detective Inspector Craig only has a gathered bunch of park rubbish from which to work from. Coming under increasing pressure from the parents and feeling a certain affinity with the case, Craig is desperate to crack this mystery.

Coming from a time when the kidnapping of a child was a rare old thing, this 1956 film is something of a rude awakening to just how the world has changed for the worst. Here we find half of London's police force on the case of a missing baby, sadly now you would be lucky to have one high ranking officer working on your behalf. So with that in mind it has to be said this is an engrossingly important time capsule of a movie, that the story is emotive and permanently involving is also a major bonus.

We follow this case from origin to it's nail biting cliff top conclusion, we witness the many avenues that the detectives have to go down just to write off a prospective clue, false leads and broken hearts are heavily thrust forward, this picture is a procedural delight, but it also should have been a parents nightmare, fleshed out with maximum impact from the actors involved, that that doesn't come across hurts the picture far too much.

As a film and story, Lost is highly recommended, but the acting on show outside of a solid turn from David Farrar as Craig is very poor. Julia Arnall as the Mother of the lost child is as about convincing as coco the clown doing Shakespeare, over egging the grief one minute and then forgetting she's in turmoil the next, it's very distracting and hurts the film. David Knight as the father fairs a little better, but really his interplay with his on screen wife is reduced to auto cue responses. That said i still wouldn't hesitate to recommend this film to fans of 50s British cinema, it has much going for it on an intriguing and suspenseful level, if only the budget had allowed for actors who knew how to act within the emotive story. 6.5/10