Review by wilvram

A study of a British family at the turn of the 1950s, whose eldest son is executed for the murder of a 'wrong type' of woman. When his brother is attracted to and marries a girl who is also despised by the family, he is haunted by thoughts that he may have inherited the impulses that drove his brother to murder...

TALL HEADLINES was recently released as a DVD on the 'Best of British' label, but with its relentlessly tedious and miserable narrative it must, in reality, count as one of the most dismal films ever to come out of a British studio. Towards the end a plot development which I won't "spoil" leads to the story becoming even more depressing than previously. Michael Denison is miscast as the troubled younger son in a role that would have been more suitable for someone like George Cole at the time, and Mai Zetterling gives a colourless performance as his unfortunate girlfriend.

But then a considerable portion of the British public seem to love nothing more than a good wallow in fictional misery. What else can account for the otherwise inexplicable attraction of the incessantly bickering characters of EASTENDERS for over two decades? Perhaps TALL HEADLINES provided a similar function in its day.