| Murder at 3am | |
| Director: | Francis Searle |
| Producer: | John Ainsworth David Henley |
| Story: | John Ainsworth |
| Starring: | Dennis Price Peggy Evans Rex Garner |
| Music: | Eric Spear |
| Cinematography: | S.D. Onions |
| Editing: | Adam Dawson |
| Studio: | David Henley Productions Renown Pictures Corporation |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British crime film second feature directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner.[1] A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.
There have been a series of attacks on women walking home in the early hours, and now a woman has been found murdered. Chief Inspector Peter Lawton investigates. His suspicion falls on Edward King, an ex-commando who is engaged to Lawton's sister Joan. He uses Joan to trap King, but King flees. It transpires that King is innocent; the killer is his half-brother Jim.
Kine Weekly said "The exuberant, if somewhat lurid and extravagent, yarn unfolds again bright night-club and realistic nocturnal London street scenes which cunningly create an illusion of scope. For its size it carries quite a kick. ";[2] Monthly Film Bulletin said "A second-rate thriller, unimaginatively directed; the cast attempts to make something out of the too-familiar dialogue and situations."[3]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Shabby 'B' feature, tiresomely made"[4]
To-Day's Cinema called it an "efficient specimen" of the crime thriller.[5]