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Mr. Denning Drives North

1951

When well-off aircraft designer Denning finds his daughter's current boyfriend is a nasty character he tries to buy him off, ending up hitting him and causing his death when he falls. Instead of calling the police he dumps the body in a lonely spot on the road to the North, making it look like a hit-and-run accident. Weeks later there is still no report of the body being found, and Denning starts to go to pieces. When he lets his wife into his secret the two start making enquiries, possibly making things worse.

John Mills Phyllis Calvert Eileen Moore Sam Wanamaker Herbert Lom Raymond Huntley Bernard Lee Russell Waters Wilfrid Hyde-White Freda Jackson Trader Faulkner Sheila Shand Gibbs Michael Shepley Ronald Adam John Stuart Hugh Morton David Davies Ambrosine Phillpotts Herbert C. Walton John Stevens Lyn Evans John Warren Raymond Francis Edward Evans Madge Brindley Sam Kydd Harry Terry

Country

Language

English

Alternative Titles

El secreto del Señor Denning, Der Täter fährt nach Norden, 夜间北行, Direção Norte, Direzione nord

Genre

Drama

Theatrical

18 Dec 1951

UK

18 Dec 1951

Theatrical

93 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by RKO_Chester ★★★

The 1st half of this John Mills' film works. The 2nd half plays out with some twists and turns, but it seems that they have just been thrown into the mix as if the screenwriter had an interesting premise for a film, but then never had any real conception of what to do with his characters.
When someone tells another that they killed a person, for instance, I expect better than average dialogue, direction and/or acting than this film delivers.
The most unique thing about this middling psychological crime drama, oddly, are the credits: No text credits open this film, not even the title of the film is displayed until the end of this also oddly titled film.
passes the grade of 60%, but is missing key elements: 6.25/10
Other BRITISH films that are, in my book, more entertaining.
Review by Owen ★★½ 1

Firstly I know letterboxd changes these things too often for commenting on posters to be worthwhile but really "the most sensational action packed thriller of the year" is the poster line?
Unless that quote was edited down from with "the most sensational action packed thriller of the year was Strangers in the train, why don't you go and watch that again or any one of a dozen other more action packed films than this one" then some serious payola was involved.
John Mills is worried his daughter might marry a foreigner so kills him with a single punch (some of the John Mills action here is a bit much) after he lets on that he's slept with her then gets…
Review by PUNQ ★★★

A very British hate story.
Review by Fint ★★★

Perky little thriller that would have been something special in rather more imaginative hands. It is well-plotted with several twisting snakes in the road, thanks to Alec Coppel's script derived from his novel. A Hitchcock would've been too much to ask for, but even a Boulting or an Asquith or a Launder would have injected a touch more personality into the material.
John Mills accidentally kills Herbert Lom (poor Herbert Lom, forever the sneering shifty foreigner) and tries to cover his tracks. Naturally his attempts to dodge justice become increasingly complicated and Mills' English pleasantness gets hopelessly entangled in his manoeuvres. Phyllis Calvert dons her best concerned expression as Loyal Wife (1950s standard model) and Sam Wanamaker plays the patent lawyer at Mill's aircraft firm whose legal advice only dig Mills deeper into his hole. Wilfred Hyde-White makes an impression as a twinkly mortuary attendant, that twinkle helping to make for a satisfying denouement.
Review by MovingPictures ★★★½

Formulaic, yet surprising and never boring, lighter NOIR with unusual locations and comic situation approaches worthy of Alfred Hitchcock.
John Mills, Phyllis Calvert and Sam Wanamaker are good.
Herbert Lom, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Bernard Lee are very welcome sights in lesser parts.
A small reservation as it gets a little silly sometimes.
Nevertheless, a good watch.
Review by Mike Bear ★★★

The first half hour is very satisfying and you're convinced this is going to be an excellent noir but then the plot starts to meander and the twists start piling up too fast and a few silly moments pop up and the film has lost its footing by the end. Still a very entertaining watch.
Review by Charles Dundas ★★½

The basic plot here is really promising (from the writer of Vertigo) but this film sadly doesn't deliver on that potential.
John Mills isn't a believable killer, but this clunky and uneven British thriller from the 50s needs us to think that his Tom Ripleyesque cunning means he can get away with murder, if it wasn't for the Crime and Punishment guilt driving him to madness, but a very calm and reasonable John Mills madness at that.
I wonder what Hitchcock could have done with this if he'd directed with Dirk Bogart or even James Mason in the lead. Now that film could have been a classic.
(Look out for Wilfred Hyde Whyte playing working class. I don't think that I've ever seen him do that before)
Review by Ripplin ★★★★ 1

Aircraft engineer Tom Denning (John Mills) is concerned about his daughter's new boyfriend Mados' (Herbert Lom) shady past and goes to confront him about it. He tells Mados that it's over, and though Mados seems civil about it, he makes one sarcastic comment that sends Denning over the edge. He gives Mados a wicked uppercut* and sends him stumbling backwards, where he falls and hits his head in the fireplace, killing him. Instead of reporting this accident to the police, Denning decides to cover it up, hiding the body in an attempt to make it look as if Mados was the victim of a hit-and-run. Everything will work out just fine, right?
This one was a lot of fun and…
Review by Reducedpricemeal ★★★

A film of limited intrigue, although on the whole fairly good value. Certainly could do with driving the plot and tension forward a bit sooner, and there is much repercussion or investigation considering he crashes a plane.
I will say that the opening POV courtroom scene is very well done and did have a certain sparkle to it, although the rest of the film didn’t feel it necessary to run with said baton.
Overall, I think it would have been better played for laughs. It is so ludicrous that it is on the cusp of being very funny most of the time anyway.
Review by Kabir ★★★

One wrong turn deserves another. At least that’s how it works out when you last ditch effort to cover up a crime, you only dog yourself deeper into more damning. John Mills plays a well intentioned father who knows that his daughter has fallen for a sniveling scumbag perfectly cast in Herbert Lom, an argument leads to a punch thrown, that knocks out and kills the playboy thanks to his head unfortunately meeting a blunt object. John Mills’ character picks up the phone but knows that how this would look - so he decides to cover it up.
It’s well paced, well directed piece of filmmaking. As it doesn’t remain a secret for too long- everyone can see he’s not…
Review by David Parker ★★★★

Odd that the main character in this has exactly the same name as the judge who presided over the Profumo Affair - in 1951 he probably wasn't a famous public figure though. Aside from that irrelevant matter, this is good. It has more intensity than most British thrillers and the aviation angle adds a novel flavour. John Mills' highly strung performance looks forward to his extraordinary neurotics a decade later in "Tunes of Glory".
Review by Beautifulkiller ★★★½

This was a wild ride. I would love to have seen Hitchcock tackle it.
John Mills plays Mr. Denning, who owns Denning Aircraft. Lately he has been distracted, bad tempered, sleepwalking, and drinking more than usual. He finally tells his wife (Phyllis Calvert) why.
When he went to confront his daughter’s ne’er do well boyfriend Medos (Herbert Lom), he punches him - the man crashes his head on the fireplace and dies.
Panicked and afraid for repercussions for his daughter, Denning packs Medos’ clothes, throws the body in his car, drives to a secluded location, fakes an accident, and hides the body nearby.
Time passes, but nothing is ever reported about the body. Normally, as it would decompose, this would…

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Mr. Denning Drives North

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Theatrical

18 Dec 1951

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UK

18 Dec 1951

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Where to watch

Mr. Denning Drives North

Synopsis

Cast

Director Director

Writer Writer

Original Writer Original Writer

Cinematography Cinematography

Studio

Country

Language

Alternative Titles

Genre

Theatrical

18 Dec 1951

UK

18 Dec 1951

Popular reviews

Director

Writer

Original Writer

Cinematography