EMERGENCY is Francis Searle's remake of the 1952 Lewis Gilbert movie EMERGENCY CALL, about the hunt for a rare blood donor and the situations that arise as a result. The identities and sub-plots surrounding the potential donors have been swapped around a bit, but the central thrust of the story is still the same.
EMERGENCY CALL was made by Nettlefold Films and distributed by Butcher's, whereas this cheaper remake is a Butcher's film through and through. The earlier film was middling, I thought, and this remake is invariably worse thanks to a cheapness of budget and general lack of interest in the crucial sub-plots.
What I did like was the wraparound story, which opens with a shocking accident scene and moves into some tense, emotional, hospital bedside stuff. Glyn Houston is a solid choice for the detective lead, and Dermot Walsh and Zena Walker do their best emoting as the distraught parents. The three sub-plots are weaker, though: the footballer one goes nowhere, the criminal one raises a decent moral dilemma but is a bit staged, and only the scientist-on-the-run tale has any interest.
EMERGENCY CALL was made by Nettlefold Films and distributed by Butcher's, whereas this cheaper remake is a Butcher's film through and through. The earlier film was middling, I thought, and this remake is invariably worse thanks to a cheapness of budget and general lack of interest in the crucial sub-plots.
What I did like was the wraparound story, which opens with a shocking accident scene and moves into some tense, emotional, hospital bedside stuff. Glyn Houston is a solid choice for the detective lead, and Dermot Walsh and Zena Walker do their best emoting as the distraught parents. The three sub-plots are weaker, though: the footballer one goes nowhere, the criminal one raises a decent moral dilemma but is a bit staged, and only the scientist-on-the-run tale has any interest.