Jack the Ripper (1959 film)
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
| Jack the Ripper | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Monty Berman Robert S. Baker |
| Screenplay by | Jimmy Sangster |
| Starring | Lee Patterson Eddie Byrne Betty McDowall John Le Mesurier Ewen Solon |
| Cinematography | Robert S. Baker Monty Berman |
| Edited by | Peter Bezencenet |
| Music by | Stanley Black (UK) Jimmy McHugh (US) Pete Rugolo (US) |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Regal Film Distributors (UK) Embassy Pictures (through Paramount Pictures) (US) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 84 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £50,000[1] |
| Box office | $1.1 million (US)[2] |
Jack the Ripper is a 1959 film produced and directed by Monty Berman and Robert S. Baker. It is loosely based on Leonard Matters' theory that Jack the Ripper was an avenging doctor.[3] The black-and-white film stars Lee Patterson and Eddie Byrne and co-stars Betty McDowall, John Le Mesurier, and Ewen Solon.[4] It was released in England in 1959, and shown in the U.S. in 1960.[5]
The plot is a "whodunit" with false leads and a denouement in which the least likely character, in this case "Sir David Rogers" played by Ewen Solon, is revealed as the culprit.[6] As in Matters' book, The Mystery of Jack the Ripper, Solon's character murders prostitutes to avenge the death of his son. While Matters had the son dying from venereal disease, the film has him committing suicide on learning his lover is a prostitute.[7]
Plot
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2015) |
In 1888, Jack the Ripper is on his killing spree. Scotland Yard Inspector O'Neill (Byrne) welcomes a visit from his old friend, New York City detective Sam Lowry (Patterson), who agrees to assist with the investigation. Sam becomes attracted to modern woman Anne Ford (McDowall) but her guardian, Dr. Tranter (Le Mesurier), doesn't approve. The police slowly close in on the killer as the public becomes more alarmed. The killer's identity is revealed and he meets a ghastly end.
Cast
- Lee Patterson as Sam Lowry
- Eddie Byrne as Inspector O'Neill
- Betty McDowall as Anne Ford
- Ewen Solon as Sir David Rogers
- John Le Mesurier as Dr. Tranter
- George Rose as Clarke
- Philip Leaver as Music Hall Manager
- Barbara Burke as Kitty Knowles
- Anne Sharp as Helen
- Denis Shaw as Simes
- Jack Allen as Assistant Commissioner Hodges
- Jane Taylor as Hazel
- Dorinda Stevens as Margaret
- Hal Osmond as Snakey the pickpocket
Production
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2015) |
The film's budget was raised from a combination of pre-sales to Regal Film Distributors at the National Film Finance Corporation.[1]
Release
Joseph E. Levine bought the US rights for £50,000. He later claimed he spent $1 million on promoting the movie and earned $2 million in profit on it.[1]
According to Variety, the film earned rentals of $1.1 million in North America on initial release.[2]
Critical reception
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2019) |
The New York Times wrote, "the most memorable line of dialogue in Jack the Ripper is read, appropriately enough, at an inquest. In the stentorian tones typical of the new Victorian melodrama, the coroner declaims that the London police are "incompetent, inadequate and inept." He may have aimed his verdict at the law enforcers, but visitors to neighborhood theatres this week are likely to give his words a broader interpretation. That coroner would have made a good film critic." [8]
References
- ^ a b c John Hamilton, The British Independent Horror Film 1951-70 Hemlock Books 2013 p 56-61
- ^ a b "Rental Potentials of 1960", Variety, 4 January 1961 p 47. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.
- ^ Meikle, Denis (2002). Jack the Ripper: The Murders and the Movies. Richmond, Surrey: Reynolds and Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-32-3, pp. 75-79. Woods, Paul; Baddeley, Gavin (2009). Saucy Jack: The Elusive Ripper. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3410-5, p. 198.
- ^ "Jack the Ripper (1958)". BFI.
- ^ Woods and Baddeley, p. 197
- ^ Meikle, pp. 76–77
- ^ Meikle, p. 79
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9803E0D61138E333A2575BC1A9649C946191D6CF
