Heures d'angoisse

Have always gotten a lot of enjoyment out of this sort of film, being someone who loves films with tension and suspense and mystery/crime driven stories. 'The Small Voice' was most notable hearing of it through family friends, fellow classic/golden age film fans, for seeing Howard Keel in his film debut. In a role very different from the musical/hunky roles he specialised and was typically typecast in later on, so it was interesting to see how he would fare.

'The Small Voice' to me was well executed and more than served its main objectives well. It is not quite a great film and there was room for it to be even better than it turned out. Flaws though are few and are not that major, and while the tension and suspense may not be fever pitch exactly 'The Small Voice' is far from devoid of it. Keel was one of my main reasons for seeing the film in the first place and he is also one of the main reasons for why it works.

It is a bit of a slow starter. The early portions are a little slow and take a little too long to set up the story.

Also found the film at times more talk-heavy than it needed to be, when parts could have benefitted from more show and less tell.

For all those personal nit-picks, 'The Small Voice' does so much right. James Donald and Valerie Hobson successfully allow the viewer to root for their characters, they are in a dire situation and they play the roles appealingly that it is not hard to root for them to get out of it. Michael Balfour steals all his scenes and David Greene suitably unsettles. Best of all is Keel in a most credible debut, here credited by his actual real name Harold Keel, he is imposing and poses a genuine threat. One doesn't want to mess with him, as said very against type but effectively so (seeing a more menacing side to such a likeable performer was one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of all my recent film viewings). The film is slickly directed.

Visually 'The Small Voice' is full of atmosphere, in a way that's both beautiful and eerie. Something present also in the not too obvious scoring. While the script and story are not always perfect, they are solidly done on the whole. The script is thought-provoking and generally tight. The story when it gets going is very compelling with enough urgency and tension to satisfy, helped largely by that Keel is so good.

Summing up, very worthwhile and well executed. 7/10

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......

From 1948, A Small Voice or Hideout is a 1948 British film, directed by Fergus McDonell.

A playwright, Murray Byrne (James Donald) and wife Eleanor (Valerie Hobson) stop en route home to help two men (Howard Keel billed as Harold and David Greene) who had been in a car accident.

It turns out that they have escaped from prison. Once at the couple's home, they hold them hostage. One returns to the accident and brings back a third man and two children who were in the other car with a dead chauffeur.

The little boy develops meningitis. Desperate to get a doctor for him, Eleanor tries sneaking out of the house to get to a phone box, since the crooks have disconnected the phone, but Boke (Keel) catches her.

Somewhat suspenseful, with Keel and Hobson having the best roles. The housekeeper (Joan Young) is a scream - at one point trying to distract Boke while Eleanor attempts to leave, she proclaims Bible passages. He shoves her into a room and closes the door, but she opens it and continues proclaiming.

Hobson was a huge star in England, married to John Profumo of the Profumo-Christine Keeler scandal that rocked Britain. The American Keel enjoyed a career on Broadway in musicals as well as films and TV, notably as a regular on Dallas.

Predictable.

The Small Voice surprised me. I only watched it out of curiosity as I saw it was Howard Keel's first movie that he was offered while in Britain appearing in London in Oklahoma! This was in 1948 when he was 29. I've been a fan since I was a child as my earliest memory of the movies is seeing Annie Get Your Gun when I was about 5 or 6. Here, Keel is one of three escaped convicts from Dartmoor prison who invade the home of James Donald and Valerie Hobson after an offer to help after their car crashes. The couple have been having marital problems, possibly caused by Donald's war experiences which has left him with an injured leg and bad memories. Hobson can't stand his self pity any more and threatens to leave him. To add to the trouble, two small children, also involved in the crash are rescued by one of the crooks and brought back to the house. The film noir feel is apparent throughout the picture and really felt authentic for a British film. Howard Keel is the dominant personality and very impressive in his first role as a brutal thug although watch out for redeeming qualities. This film proves, rather like his musical rival, Gordon MacRae who I thought was very good in The Return of the Frontiersman in 1950, that these two big voiced singers could have been fine actors had they been given good roles like Frank Sinatra was in From Here To Eternity.

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.