As pointed out by another reviewer, TOWN ON TRIAL opens with a murder confession. Which is pivotal to the film's eliptical structure.
This film is one of Director John Guilhermin's finest achievements, perhaps topped only by RAPTURE (1965), well before epic duds like TOWERING INFERNO and KING KONG in the 1970s.
At this stage in his career, Guilhermin showed an eye for detail, and TOWN opens with a very interesting and fluid camera movement as a police car parks outside a police station and an unidentified and facially unrevealed criminal gets out in cuffs. That seemingly minor detail pings off a series of other deft touches throughout, filmed with considerable verve and imagination by the highly competent if not terribly well known Basil Emott.
I rate John Mills one of the most reliable actors I have had the pleasure to watch. I have never seen a poor performance from him, and I have seen many well above average, including RYAN'S DAUGHTER, OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR, HOBSON'S CHOICE, ABOVE US THE WAVES, THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, among others. Well, he is simply peerless in TOWN ON TRIAL. The way he conveys on the job knowledge, raises and lowers his voice, his eyes - which can be menacing or loving, depending on who he addresses (lovely Bates certainly gets the sensitive treatment). His acting in this film deserves careful study, such is the versatility.
Beautiful Bates performs credibly as a nurse, conveying heartfelt interest in others... and love. I guess she portrays the type of woman any man would fall head over heels for.
Charles Coburn, Alec McCowen, and Geoffrey Keen deliver first class support for the leads, and vivacious Elizabeth Seal almost steals the show with a small pouting and dancing part.
Very strong script. A real treat of a noir/whodunnit film.
