| The Man Who Wouldn't Talk | |
| Director: | Herbert Wilcox |
| Producer: | Herbert Wilcox |
| Story: | Stanley Jackson |
| Music: | Stanley Black |
| Cinematography: | Gordon Dines |
| Editing: | Basil Warren |
| Studio: | Herbert Wilcox Productions (as Wilcox-Neagle) |
| Distributor: | British Lion Film Corporation (UK) |
| Runtime: | 97 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | £127,582[1] |
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk is a 1958 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Anna Neagle, Anthony Quayle, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dora Bryan, John Le Mesurier and Lloyd Lamble.[2] [3] It was written by Edgar Lustgarten from a story by Stanley Jackson.
A courtroom drama, it sees an American scientist charged by the British police for his supposed role in the death of a secret agent who had been posing as his wife.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Coldly efficient in direction, the film suffers most from the lifelessness of the meticulous script. The attention given to legal procedure is, it must be admitted, exact and authoritative; but motivation is generally rather hazy, and the predicament of the central character is rather incredible. Anna Neagle is in fine form, however, as Britain's foremost Queen's Counsel, and carries off her big courtroom speech with impassioned determination."[4]
TV Guide wrote, "the screenplay was written by writers well versed in litigation, so the courtroom scenes have a strong sense of realism. The performances are convincing, though marred by several characters who don't fit in the plot."[5]
The Radio Times wrote, "courtroom dramas have an intrinsic appeal, and veteran producer/director Herbert Wilcox makes a moderately entertaining film out of this story in which Anthony Quayle's American scientist, accused of murder, refuses to testify in his own defence. Wilcox's wife, Anna Neagle, gives another of her great lady portraits as Britain's leading Queen's Counsel, demonstrating her deductive brilliance in spotting a bullet hole in a witness's window pane and her oratorical skills in a dramatic five-minute courtroom address."[6]