Night Without Pity Explained

Night without Pity
Director:Theodore Zichy
Producer:Jack Parsons
Screenplay:Aubrey Cash
Editing:Peter Pitt
Starring:Sarah Lawson
Neil McCallum
Alan Edwards
Cinematography:Ken Hodges
Studio:Parroch Films
Runtime:57 minutes
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English

Night Without Pity is a 1961 British crime film directed by Theodore Zichy and starring Sarah Lawson, Neil McCallum, Alan Edwards and Michael Browning.[1]

Plot summary

Crooks O'Brien and Randall break into Diana Martin's home to steal her husband's factory keys. Diana is alone with her small son, who, frightened by the intruders, falls from his bedroom window and is concussed. Diana agrees to hand over the keys if she can phone a doctor. O'Brien stays while Randall goes to rob the factory. When the doctor arrives he tries to overpower O'Brien, but he is knocked unconscious.

Meanwhile, Randall has got the loot and decided to doublecross O'Brien and flee. O'Brien forces Diana to drive after him. When Randall stops at a garage he and O'Brien fight, but when O'Brien has defeated him Diana threatens O'Brien with his own gun until the police arrive.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: " A weak script – which strains credulity even on the level of melodrama – crudely realised in cramped settings melodrama"[2]

Kine Weekly wrote: "The story is close to events that have happened and the small-time crooks are typically base and inefficient, but neither the scriptwriter nor the director have paid enough attention to probability and the plot is badly frayed with loose ends. Some tension is created when the housewife is threatened by the crooks, but it is dissipated by interpolated shots of the husband playing gin rummy with his old mum, and of subsidiary and largely non-essential characters in a sleazy, all-night café. The acting is a cut above the story. "[3]

References

  1. Web site: Night Without Pity . 14 February 2024 . British Film Institute Collections Search.
  2. 1 January 1966 . Night without Pity . . 33 . 384 . 110 . ProQuest.
  3. 12 May 1966 . Night without Pity . . 587 . 3058 . 18 . ProQuest.

External links