The Long Memory

The Long Memory
movie poster
Directed by	Robert Hamer
Produced by	Hugh Stewart
Written by	Howard Clewes (novel) Robert Hamer Frank Harvey
Starring	John Mills John McCallum Elizabeth Sellars Geoffrey Keen
Cinematography	Harry Waxman
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date(s)	1952
Running time	96 min
Country	UK
Language	English

The Long Memory is a 1952 film directed by Robert Hamer and based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Howard Clewes. A crime thriller filmed on the North Kent Marshes on the Thames Estuary and the dingy backstreets of Gravesend (now long since demolished) its bleak setting and grim atmosphere have led to its acclaim as a British example of film noir.

Synopsis

The protagonist, Davidson (John Mills), visits the boat of Captain Driver to ask permission to marry his daughter Fay. Aboard, he finds himself involved in a fight over the criminal activities of Boyd, a people trafficker with whom the Drivers are associated. The boat catches fire, and subsequent investigation finds aboard a charred corpse, Boyd having gone missing. The corpse is actually a client Boyd killed, but to cover up their involvement, the Drivers and another associate, Tim Pewsey, perjure themselves by claiming there was no other man present. This leads to the identification of the corpse as Boyd and to Davidson's conviction for his murder. He spends 12 years in prison.

Upon his release, he sets out to get even with the three witnesses. Living rough in a beached barge on the Kent Marshes, he returns to the scene of the crime and begins gathering clues as to the whereabouts of the witnesses. He finds that Captain Driver has drunk himself to death, Pewsey is a confused wreck, and Fay is now married to a policeman, Inspector Lowther (John McCallum), who has spent the past dozen years mulling over the case, wondering if Davidson might indeed be innocent.

Three people attempt unsuccessfully to befriend Davidson: Jackson, a kindly old hermit from whom he rents the barge; Ilse, a traumatised refugee who falls in love with him after he rescues her from being raped by a sailor and allows her to stay overnight on his barge; and Craig, a journalist who is interested in his case and also suspects him to be innocent.

Shadowed by Lowther, whose own marriage is coming under increasing tension with the possibility of his wife's perjury, Davidson stalks Pewsey to frighten him into confessing to the police, and also discovers that the alleged murder victim, Boyd, is alive and well. He visits Boyd's office and confronts him, but is shot and finds himself pursued by Boyd and his criminal chauffeur. He flees to the Kent Marshes, where he is saved during a final confrontation when Boyd, about to kill him, is shot by Jackson. The film concludes with Ilse and Davidson refusing further help, leaving to deal with their pasts together.

Production

The film was made at Pinewood Studios and on location in Kent around Gravesend and at Shad Thames in London. It was the last film of Henry Edwards, a major British star of the 1920s and 1930s, who had a small role as a judge early in the film.

Cast

• John Mills as Phillip Davidson
• John McCallum as Superintendent Bob Lowther
• Elizabeth Sellars as Fay Lowther
• Eva Bergh as Ilse
• Geoffrey Keen as Craig
• Michael Martin Harvey as Jackson
• John Chandos as Boyd
• John Slater as Pewsey
• Thora Hird as Mrs Pewsey
• Vida Hope as Alice Gedge
• Harold Lang as Boyd's chauffeur
• Mary Mackenzie as Gladys
• John Glyn-Jones as Gedge
• John Horsley as Bletchley
• Fred Johnson as Driver
• Laurence Naismith as Hasbury
• Peter Jones as Fisher
• Christopher Beeny as Mickey
• Ernest Clark as Prosecuting Councel (uncredited)
• Henry Edwards as Judge (uncredited)
• Arthur Mullard as Police Constable (uncredited)
• Denis Shaw as Shaw (uncredited)
• Julian Somers as Delaney (uncredited)
• Russell Waters as Scotson (uncredited)

References

• The Long Memory, Britmovie.co.uk
• The Long Memory, Ferdy on Films

External links

• The Long Memory at the Internet Movie Database