23 Paces to Baker Street (1956)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Philip MacDonald (novel)
Nigel Balchin (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 July 1956 (West Germany)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

STEP-BY-STEP...(original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Philip Hannon, a blind playwright living in London, overhears part of a conversation , that leads him into a desperate race...

Plot Keywords:

London England | Fiancee | Blind Man | Kidnapping | Blindness

Cast

Van Johnson	...	Phillip Hannon
Vera Miles	...	Jean Lennox
Cecil Parker	...	Bob Matthews
Patricia Laffan	...	Miss Alice MacDonald
Maurice Denham	...	Inspector Grovening
Estelle Winwood	...	Barmaid
Liam Redmond	...	Mr. Murch
Isobel Elsom	...	Lady Syrett
Martin Benson	...	Pillings
Natalie Norwick	...	Janet Murch
Terence de Marney	...	Sgt. Luce

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (cut version) | West Germany:16 (uncut version) | USA:Approved (certificate #17867) | UK:U | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The central plot-gimmick about the mysterious "Mr.Evans" and its final revelation is a lift from the "Mr.Christopher" strand in The House on 92nd Street (1945), also directed by Henry Hathaway in 1945.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Miss Lennox arrives at Philip's flat, she takes off her hat and puts it on a table. She doesn't put it on again before she leaves.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Nursemaid Who Disappeared (1939)

Wait until dark

Hathaway was a brilliant director.He did never,until the very end ("the last safari")produce anything truly mediocre:from "the witching hour" to "True Grit "and "Nevada Smith,his work encompasses such classics as "lives of a Bengal lancer" "Peter Ibbetson" "House on 92 th street" "kiss of death" "niagara" "Legend of the lost",sorry if I cannot mention them all.

Influenced by Hitchcock's "rear window" (Vera Miles was an Hitchcockesque actress although she had yet to work with him in 1956 ),"23 paces to Baker street" ,on the other hand ,had on strong influence on Frederick Knott whose "wait until dark" was transferred to the screen by Terence Young with Audrey Hepburn in 1967: the scene of the "broken lights" was stolen from Philip McDonald.("Now we are equal;not afraid of the dark,are you?") "23 paces to Baker Street" should appeal to people who enjoyed the two movies I mention above;it takes place in a foggy London,with plenty of suspense and a plot which is sometimes a bit complicated and far-fetched but it does not matter:you watch it just like you read Agatha Christie's books.