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The Night My Number Came Up

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The Night My Number Came Up
UK release poster
Directed byLeslie Norman
Written byR. C. Sherriff
Victor Goddard (story)
Produced byMichael Balcon
StarringMichael Redgrave
Sheila Sim
Alexander Knox
Denholm Elliott
CinematographyLionel Banes
Edited byPeter Tanner
Music byMalcolm Arnold
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors (UK)
Continental Film Distributors (US)
Release date
  • 22 March 1955 (1955-03-22) (UK)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Night My Number Came Up is a 1955 British supernatural drama film directed by Leslie Norman and starring Michael Redgrave, Sheila Sim and Alexander Knox.[1] The screenplay by R. C. Sherrif was based on an incident in the life of British Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard whose journal was published in The Saturday Evening Post of 26 May 1951.[2]

Plot

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Air Marshal Hardie is at a dinner party in Hong Kong at which a naval commander talks about a dream he had, in which an air marshal and seven companions flew in a Douglas Dakota which crashed on a rocky shore. Hardie is due to fly to Tokyo the following day, but is not concerned because many of the details differ from his planned voyage, including a different kind of aircraft.

However, when problems ground the planned aircraft, it is replaced by a Douglas Dakota – as in the dream. Additional passengers arrive, making the total number of people eight passengers and five crew members – as in the dream. As the flight proceeds, eventually most of the details correspond to the dream. The Dakota climbs to avoid bad weather, but ices up. The pilot puts it into a steep dive to unfreeze the undercarriage. This succeeds, but they are now in heavy cloud and the plane has lost its guidance and radio. They believe they are heading for Yokohama Bay in Japan, but having to fly on visuals alone they need to land before sunset.

They become lost and fly around in circles. Events increasingly unfold as in the dream, and the pilot, who knows of the premonition, starts to panic. The senior officer demands that they ditch in the sea, but the pilot wants to attempt an emergency landing on the beach. They run out of fuel and glide towards the mountains, but instead of crashing as in the dream, the pilot manages to bring the aircraft down in a controlled emergency landing. All on board survive.

Cast

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Production

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The film was made by J Arthur Rank at the Ealing Studios.[citation needed]

Leslie Norman said he found the original magazine article and suggested it become a film. He wrote a synopsis and sent it to Michael Balcon, who agreed to make the film – although he refused to let Leslie Norman write the script and insisted on R.C. Sheriff. Norman later said "I don't think R.C. Sheriff added anything to it."[3]: 440 

Part of the film was shot in Hong Kong, at Kai Tak Airport. Norman said he was "pretty pleased with" the film but felt "Ursula Jeans was a weak link".[3]: 441 

This was Sheila Sim's final film before her retirement from acting.

Reception

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The Manchester Guardian wrote: "For a taut, tense, efficient, and unpretentious little thriller it would be hard to beat The Night My Number Came Up."[4]

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Someone relates a dream; and the dream comes true – except for the climax, in which the passengers survive instead of being killed. This makes for a certain lack of surprise in The Night My Number Came Up, particularly as the flashback construction informs us trom the first reel that the plane has crashed, anyway, and reduces the whole story to a single item of doubt. The players are not given much scope with some conventionally written parts, though Nigel Stock creates a genuinely individual figure as the pilot. Direction is efficient."[5]

Variety reviewed the film as "A highly competent piece of filmmaking, it is packed with suspense. [...] Leslie Norman's incisive direction sustains the tension and Lionel Banes has lensed the production with commendable skill."[6]

In British Sound Films David Quinlan writes: "Suspense drama holds the attention all the way."[7]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Intriguing little melodrama which badly lacks a twist ending and foxes itself by flashback construction which leaves very little open to doubt."[8]

In theTime Out Film Guide Trevor Johnston wrote: "Clever plot construction, a plane-load of top British thesps, and smooth handling from director Leslie Norman (Barry's dad) all give good value."[9]

Awards

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The film was nominated for four 1956 BAFTA Awards: Michael Redgrave as Best British Actor, R.C. Sherriff for Best British Screenplay, Best Film from any Source, and Best British Film.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "The Night My Number Came Up". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Obituary of Sir Victor Goddard." The Times, January 1987.
  3. ^ a b McFarlane, Brian (1997). An Autobiography of British Cinema. Methuen. ISBN 978-0-4137-0520-4.
  4. ^ "The Night My Number Came Up". The Manchester Guardian: 3. 26 March 1955.
  5. ^ "The Night My Number Came Up". Monthly Film Bulletin. 22 (252): 76. 1955 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ "The Night My Number Came Up". Variety. 198 (5): 9. 24 March 1954.
  7. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 352. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  8. ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 728. ISBN 0-586-08894-6.
  9. ^ Johnston, Trevor (2004). Time Out Film Guide. London: Time Out Guides Limited. ISBN 978-0-14101-354-1.
  10. ^ "The Night My Number Came Up". BAFTA. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
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