Time Without Pity
- 1957
- 1h 25m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
The day before a young man is to be executed for killing his girlfriend, his alcoholic father shows up to try to prove his innocence.The day before a young man is to be executed for killing his girlfriend, his alcoholic father shows up to try to prove his innocence.The day before a young man is to be executed for killing his girlfriend, his alcoholic father shows up to try to prove his innocence.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total
Ernest Clark
- Under-Secretary, Home Office
- (as Ernest Clarke)
- Director
- Writers
- Ben Barzman
- Emlyn Williams(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough this is an adaptation of Emlyn Williams' play "Someone Waiting", and referred to as such in many reference books and in interviews with director Joseph Losey, the play and its author are uncredited in the movie's opening title sequence. It is a very loose adaptation, with no character names retained from the original, and is set very specifically before one leading character is due to be executed for murder; it was seen by Losey as a polemic against capital punishment, whereas the play (set several months after an execution) is simply a suspense thriller. It may be that Emlyn Williams had his name removed as a protest against changes made to his original.
- GoofsThe camera crew is reflected in the door of Clayton's car as it pulls up at the prison with Graham.
- Quotes
David Graham: What did Alec say about me?
Brian Stanford: I got the impression you were about to write the greatest novel ever written. Did you?
David Graham: In common with quite a lot of other writers... I had been about to write it for a very long time.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Tea With the Dames (2018)
- SoundtracksSilent Night
(uncredited)
Written by Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr
Played in the pub, in a jazzed-up tempo
Featured review
TIME WITHOUT PITY (Joseph Losey, 1957) ***
Rather hysterical but engrossing and very well-acted melodrama (particularly by Michael Redgrave, a BAFTA nominee, and Leo McKern), ostensibly a murder mystery but with a manifest position against capital punishment.
Interestingly, the culprit is known from the very beginning but, saddled with an alcoholic hero, one is never sure whether he'll be able to prove his son's innocence of murder; the denouement, then, is terrific - as unexpected as it is ironic. Losey's expressionist style (aided by Freddie Francis's chiaroscuro cinematography) is in full sway here: actually, according to film critic Gerard Legrand - writing in "The Movie" - this was the film were the director really came into his own; I can't vouch for that myself since I have yet to watch three important films he made earlier i.e. THE PROWLER (1951) and M (1951), both Hollywood productions, and THE SLEEPING TIGER (1954), Losey's first effort following his relocation to Britain.
It's undeniably a powerful film though relatively verbose (it was adapted from a play by Emlyn Williams); like I said, Losey drives his actors to fever pitch and he has chosen a most capable cast - including Ann Todd, Alec McCowen, Peter Cushing, Renee' Houston, Lois Maxwell, Joan Plowright, Peter Copley and Richard Wordsworth! The only false note throughout, perhaps, is to be found in the score by Tristram Cary - which is so over-the-top that, at times, it even drowns out the dialogue!
Interestingly, the culprit is known from the very beginning but, saddled with an alcoholic hero, one is never sure whether he'll be able to prove his son's innocence of murder; the denouement, then, is terrific - as unexpected as it is ironic. Losey's expressionist style (aided by Freddie Francis's chiaroscuro cinematography) is in full sway here: actually, according to film critic Gerard Legrand - writing in "The Movie" - this was the film were the director really came into his own; I can't vouch for that myself since I have yet to watch three important films he made earlier i.e. THE PROWLER (1951) and M (1951), both Hollywood productions, and THE SLEEPING TIGER (1954), Losey's first effort following his relocation to Britain.
It's undeniably a powerful film though relatively verbose (it was adapted from a play by Emlyn Williams); like I said, Losey drives his actors to fever pitch and he has chosen a most capable cast - including Ann Todd, Alec McCowen, Peter Cushing, Renee' Houston, Lois Maxwell, Joan Plowright, Peter Copley and Richard Wordsworth! The only false note throughout, perhaps, is to be found in the score by Tristram Cary - which is so over-the-top that, at times, it even drowns out the dialogue!
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- Bunuel1976
- Aug 24, 2006
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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