The Girl in the News

Very good script by Gilliat based on a novel. Likable protagonists and support characters, as well as nearly-likable villains in a wonderful cast who work pleasingly together.

I'm glad Barnes, not Redgrave (apparently as originally planned), fell into the role of "Stephen." Barnes is gentlemanly distant and professional, but obviously protective of Lockwood as friend and client. Redgrave might have handled the role in a cheesier, more intimate manner, not appropriate in this quiet script. Livesey provides a friendly but professional touch as Barnes' policeman flat-mate.

Refreshing to see characters interact without sturm und drang for a change, in well-paced unfolding of Barnes' defense of Lockwood.

Enjoyed this movie very much. There aren't many that succeed in first gear - maybe "A Canterbury Tale" is another such, but there aren't many others.

The plot is thick, and it is difficult to follow all the twists and turns of this intricate concoction of the purposed perfect murder. Margaret Lockwood is perfect as the nurse under suspicion, since more than one patient of hers happens to die of poisoning. Fortunately she has a young alert attorney for her defense who sees through the web of intrigue and finally dispels it. This is typical for Sidney Gilliat's thriller construction with many difficult threads to follow through to an end which no one could have any idea of. The dialog is intensive, intelligent and sharp all through, and inspector Roger Livesey is too straight forward to be able to be fooled or to not commit mistakes. The combination of Gilliat's mastership in script writing with Carol Reed's equally masterful direction makes this film a gem among British thrillers of the 30s. We don't often see Carol Reed conduct a trial and least of all in a murder case, but he handles it expertly only by directing the human hands without any unnecessary dramatic action. This film deserves to be watched more than once, and each time you will find new values in it.

Perhaps because it's made by Carol Reed that you expect this to be something special? Clearly not everything he did was as innovative or imaginative as THE THIRD MAN but this shows no flair whatsoever. It's just.... competent.

Although the story is reasonably intriguing, the execution of this picture is so routine, were it made these days, you'd think it generated by A. I. It is however quite a clever little story so once you've watched this for five minutes you'll have no choice but to stick with it. You'll not be able to go to bed until you find out what happens to "Anne." One thing I can tell you is that she doesn't get any more animated. Nobody really does. Yes, the acting is natural and realistic but I think it's gone too subtle....sometimes over the top, wild and wacky is more interesting than sitting down drinking a cup of tea.

The whole thing feels miserable. Yes, I know it's about suicide, murder, fighting to save your life but they could at least smile every now and then. Maybe it's because it's 1941 - not the happiest year but this would hardly cheer 'our boys' up.

The romance between "Anne" and"Stephen" came as a complete surprise to me since I didn't detect any chemistry, feelings or emotion whatsoever between these two. Margaret Lockwood had a real talent for saying so much in just one look but you get the feeling that in this she just turned up and Carol Reed had no idea who she was or what she was capable of so just said: go over there and read that. I don't think I particularly liked Barry Barnes much either - couldn't warm to the chap.

Margaret Lockwood is "The Girl in the News" as a nurse who is acquitted of murder, only to find herself accused again. Carol Reed directed, and besides Lockwood, it stars Emlyn Williams and Roger Livesey. Lockwood is Anne Graham, a young nurse working in a household when her invalid employer takes too many sleeping pills. Graham is accused of murder but acquitted. However, she finds getting a job impossible until she changes her name. Someone mails her a classified ad for a nursing job, for which she applies and is accepted. Then history repeats itself.

A very good film, excellently directed by Reed with an underplayed performance by Lockwood. Emlyn Williams plays her attorney. Though I figured this film out before the plot unfolded, "The Girl in the News" is still good and worth seeing.

A young nurse who has been acquitted of poisoning her employer manages to find work under another name - and is accused of murder, by the same method, a second time. We know the guilty parties well in advance, and the solution of the crime by the nurse's attorney owes more to luck and intuition than to detection. There's no chase scene, no romance, not a great deal of suspense. From Carol Reed, the same director who made "Night Train to Munich", "Odd Man Out" and "The Third Man", this is a remarkably bland film. Still, it's very smoothly made, everything is focused on the story line, and the acting is uniformly excellent. It's a solid, professional piece of work (and I know that sounds like damning with faint praise), and while there's no urgent reason to see it more than once, it's certainly worth seeing once.