by Robert Bellissimo
Murder investigation movies or TV shows often follow a detective as they follow leads to solve a murder. A story may lead you to believe that one of the characters is the murderer and then another character, and so on and so forth, finally leading to a conclusion where the crime is solved and the motive of the killer is revealed. We’ve seen this structure time and time again.
“Time Without Pity (1957)” has that same structure, but does something really interesting and original with it. This British Film Noir was directed by Joseph Losey. The screenplay was by Ben Barzman (a fellow Torontonian), based on the stage play, “Someone Waiting” by Emlyn Williams.
The film follows David Graham (Michael Redgrave) as he tries to prove that his son, Alec Graham (Alec McCowen), is innocent of the murder of his girlfriend. He only has one day to bring substantial evidence forward in order to prevent his son from being executed.
The film is essentially about faith and redemption. David is an alcoholic, who has just been released from a sanitorium in Canada. He was a bad father and he knows it. He doesn’t know for sure that his son didn’t commit the murder, but he believes he didn’t. He sacrifices his life in order to save him. He is redeemed, but his redemption comes at a tragic price.
As David follows various leads to try to prove that his son is innocent, he is led to his son’s best friend, Brian Stanford (Paul Daneman) and his parents, Honor Stanford (Ann Todd) and Robert Stanford (Leo McKern).
What also really interests me about this film is that it plays more like a suspense film, than a whodunnit? We know from the first scene that Alec’s girlfriend was killed by Robert Stanford, but why?
We see in the first scene that Robert didn’t intend to kill this young woman but, as he got violent with her, he accidentally kills her. We don’t see exactly what he did, since it’s played offscreen, we only see his reaction of shock and fear when he realizes she’s dead. It appears that he’s trying to find something out from her, but what ? This is never spelled out for the audience, yet it’s somewhat obvious. One may have to dwell on what happened a little bit at the end of the film, but that makes it all the more stimulating.
Gradually, we find out that the Stanford family are protecting Robert, yet they mysteriously throw some clues at David, so that he will find the truth. The irony is that the Stanford family were Alec’s surrogate family, yet they are somewhat willing to throw Alec to the wolves to protect Robert for their own varied reasons. It’s also ironic that David, who hasn’t been a good father, is the one doing all he can to save Alec from execution.
The performances from the entire cast are incredible. Michael Redgrave brings such a sad and frantic desperation to his role. He’s also trying not to drink through the ordeal, but succumbs to getting drunk, as a result of the stress he’s under. There’s wonderful moments of him falling asleep at a bar and then panicking as he’s waking up, thinking that the execution has happened and that he couldn’t save his son. We also see him suddenly waking up on a subway train, not knowing how he got there.
Leo McKern gives a powerhouse performance as Robert Stanford. His anger and anxiety over the fear of getting caught is so real that it’s almost scary to witness.
Alec McCowen as Alec McCowen goes from being depressed, defeated and distant when he initially sees his father, to then being frantic and desperate to be saved, as his father gives him hope that he can get him out. It’s heartbreaking to see.
Ann Todd and Paul Daneman subtly show their mixed feelings about protecting Robert Stanford in a way that is touching and sympathetic.
The pacing of the film is tight, which gave me the feeling of being thrown into the story, as David has been. The gritty on-location black and white cinematography by Freddie Francis gives a real sense of reality to the film.
In 2024, we have atrocities taking place in many parts of the world. If only we all had more faith in one another and tried to look more at our mistakes in life, we may become better people. David Graham succeeds at this. It costs him his life, but that’s film noir.
You can stream “Time Without Pity” on The Criterion Channel.
