The Small Voice

A perennial situation that dates back at least as far as 'The Petrified Forest' and culminated in the section in 'A Clockwork Orange' when Alex and his droogs invade the home of a writer with an attractive wife to whom they proceed to help themselves (itself based on an incident during the wartime blackout in 1944 when Anthony Burgess's own wife was beaten and raped by three GI deserters). Although based on a novel originally published in 1940 and here updated to the postwar crime wave, by the time Burgess wrote his own novel a further ten years later he was thinking of teddy boys.

The fellow who makes his film debut as the chief hood was an American billed as 'Harold Keel' who had recently made a name for himself on the West End stage. He shows promise.

Our heroes lost me early on when continually referring to their housemaid as "Potter".

Even in mortal danger one must know one's place.

There wasn't a lot of sympathy for the children's chauffeur either.

Post war Britain was bliss in 1948.

Bar that not the worst.

A story played out many times before but well acted by all including Howard Keel.

Valerie Hobson plays Valerie Hobson as usual and as always is the standout.

A couple with marriage problems (fortunately as it turns out) come across an accident involving three dangerous escapees, well one in any case.

As in many post war British films a Hollywood star was used and Keel, appearing at the time, in the WestEnd version of "Oklahoma" holds his own in the acting department.

Everyone else is equally as solid.

Watch out for the recording played late in the piece.

Quite a thoughtful ending.

Pity about Potter.

6/10.

The Small Voice never quite descends into 'so bad it's good' territory, but seldom amounts to anything more than routine, run of the mill noir by numbers.

James Donald is part of a valiant generation for whom peace has been achieved at a high personal cost. A potential career in professional cricket ruined by a serious leg injury at the hands of the Nazis, he has enjoyed success as a playwright, but is resentful, condescending and prickly as an individual. Long suffering wife, Valerie Hobson, exasperated by his self pitying dirges and monotonous, in-depth diatribes on the workings of the criminal mind, has concluded that their marriage has run its course.

With meticulous attention to detail we are informed that the story begins 'on a road near Dartmoor Prison'. Even the newspaper headline revealing that three soldiers are on the run, would leave most readers turning to the back page for the football results. Needless to say, the lives of the escaped convicts and the unhappy couple become inextricably intertwined in what plays out as a minor league blueprint for The Desperate Hours. The three crooks can be categorized as hard nut (replete with American brogue), cheeky chappie and dumb guy. David Greene battles gamely to combine slow on the uptake with West Country, occasionally slipping into Cockney and even a touch of psuedo Yorkshire.

There appears to have been a deliberate attempt to minimize any worthwhile action. The road accident and shootings occur off camera. The only real animation being a woman's horrified facial expression upon discovering that washing had been stolen from her line. She must have thought that Arnold Layne had paid her a visit!

Much of The Small Voice comes off as simply laboured and plodding, with Hobson and Keel's professionalism just about carrying this largely listless affair.

Ah...this Boke bloke. Keel credited under his real name, Harold and making his screen debut, prior to finding success in musicals like Showboat and Calamity Jane. His only involvement with music here occurs when he recklessly wrecks a record which he finds objectionable. Now, if he EVER contemplated doing that to any of my Frank Zappa albums......

Taut little British suspense feature sees Howard Keel in his film debut (billed as Harold Keel). Boke (Keel) is having a bad day he's broken out of Dartmoor Prison, shot a cop, been in a car crash and now is in a hostage situation with unhappily married couple James Donald and Valerie Hobson. He has Donald who writes plays about crooks trying to get into his psyche, Hobson looking at him like he's trash, the kid upstairs screaming from meningitis and two useless fellow escapees plus its hot inside and we've got no electric fan (James Donald didn't think it worthwhile buying one). Howard Keel looks lean and imposing and every inch his over 6ft height. American born Keel was in England starring on stage in 'Oklahoma'. You can hear him singing 'the hangman song' on the record James Donald plays. His next film was the big budget MGM musical ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. Oddly enough Keel played another escaped prisoner in the British made FLOODS OF FEAR. Valerie Hobson was married to the film's producer Anthony Havelock-Allan and later married politician John Profumo but that's a whole other story !!!

I'm glad this film has been rescued from oblivion. It has many virtues. An excellent cast: Donald Murray, Valerie Hobson and Howard Keel are ideal in the three main roles, and they receive strong support from most of the minor characters. A strong, well-paced plot with frequent credible twists. Psychological depth and moral ambiguity. A satisfactory balance between thought and action. A certain oppressiveness in the interiors with some noir camera-work and sound track which add to the suspense. Idyllic landscapes. Plenty of period detail. It's a pity that the Welsh accents really don't come off, but one can't have everything, and this is one of the few films I've seen which I wished was much longer.