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The Long Dark Hall

  • 1951
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
547
YOUR RATING
Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer in The Long Dark Hall (1951)
CrimeDrama

A devoted family man tries to help a beautiful alcoholic showgirl with her life, and becomes the only suspect when someone else murders her.A devoted family man tries to help a beautiful alcoholic showgirl with her life, and becomes the only suspect when someone else murders her.A devoted family man tries to help a beautiful alcoholic showgirl with her life, and becomes the only suspect when someone else murders her.

  • Directors
    • Reginald Beck
    • Anthony Bushell
  • Writers
    • Nunnally Johnson
    • William Fairchild
    • Edgar Lustgarten
  • Stars
    • Rex Harrison
    • Lilli Palmer
    • Tania Heald
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    547
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Reginald Beck
      • Anthony Bushell
    • Writers
      • Nunnally Johnson
      • William Fairchild
      • Edgar Lustgarten
    • Stars
      • Rex Harrison
      • Lilli Palmer
      • Tania Heald
    • 34User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos6

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    Top cast36

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    Rex Harrison
    Rex Harrison
    • Arthur Groome
    Lilli Palmer
    Lilli Palmer
    • Mary Groome
    Tania Heald
    • Sheila Groome
    Henrietta Barry
    • Rosemary Groome
    Dora Sevening
    • Mary's Mother
    Ronald Simpson
    • Mary's Father
    Raymond Huntley
    Raymond Huntley
    • Chief Inspector Sullivan
    William Squire
    William Squire
    • Sergeant Cochran
    • (as William Squires)
    Ballard Berkeley
    Ballard Berkeley
    • Superintendent Maxey
    Anthony Dawson
    Anthony Dawson
    • The Man
    Denis O'Dea
    Denis O'Dea
    • Sir Charles Morton
    Anthony Bushell
    Anthony Bushell
    • Clive Bedford
    Henry B. Longhurst
    • Judge
    • (as Henry Longhurst)
    Patricia Cutts
    Patricia Cutts
    • Rose Mallory
    • (as Patricia Wayne)
    Meriel Forbes
    Meriel Forbes
    • Marjorie Danns
    Brenda de Banzie
    Brenda de Banzie
    • Mrs. Rogers
    Douglas Jefferies
    • Dr. Conway
    Fletcher Lightfoot
    • Jury Foreman
    • Directors
      • Reginald Beck
      • Anthony Bushell
    • Writers
      • Nunnally Johnson
      • William Fairchild
      • Edgar Lustgarten
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews34

    6.2547
    1
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    5
    6
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    10

    Featured reviews

    6kijii

    Story within a story crime drama

    The Long Dark Hall is a crime drama starring Rex Harrison and his real- life wife (at the time), Lilli Palmer, who in the film, play husband and wife, Arthur and Mary Groome.

    This seems to be a story within a story as told by a newspaper reporter to a crime novelist. But, the internal story is the one that I focused on throughout the movie.

    In this story, Arthur and Mary Groome appear to be a happily married couple who live in Richmond with two young daughters. However, when a London showgirl is found dead on a night that Arthur visited her—which he admitted to everyone that he often did--he is accused of her murder. Yet, he claimed he did not kill her, and his wife, Mary, totally believes him.

    His accusation and trial for her murder is based on a ton of circumstantial evidence, including his knife at the scene, witnesses, and her blood on his suit (which he admits, he in the trial, that he burned because it couldn't be dry cleaned)....
    7peacham

    Harrison elevates The Film From Average To Enjoyable.

    The plot is not original...Mistress is Murdered,Married Man accussed...Wife stands by him. But Sir Rex Harrison makes you believe in the story. Harrison gives an extremely fine and brilliant performance which raises the film from a typical pot boiler into the story of a regretful innocent man. Lily Palmer (at the time..Mrs. Harrison) is also in fine form as his on screen wife.
    5planktonrules

    Adequate

    Wow--talk about divergent reviews. Two apparently hated the film (giving it a score of 2) and two liked it very much (giving it a score of 7). I think my opinion is somewhat in the middle--though I think giving the film a 2 is awfully silly. It's NOT a bad film, though I would agree with goldbug-2 that the forensic work done by the police seems sloppy. In fact, up until late in the film, I could look past the problems with the knife and other evidence. However, the completely unbelievable ending and the major mistake in the film concerning the witness they could not locate made me mad--as it just looked sloppy and the film seemed to be wrapped up too quickly. Let me explain the problem with both. Rex Harrison's character insisted there was a witness that could place him at the restaurant and later you see this witness come to court but then walk away without giving evidence. How could this be? The film was told to an author by a newspaper man but how could the newspaper man tell that the witness DID come to court but then ran away without telling anyone--how could he have known this?! As for the ending, the film maintained a rather steady pace throughout but at the end, everything was basically described to the audience--neatly wrapping everything up but not even showing what they were describing! It was like they decided not to film the last 20 minutes of the movie and just sum it up in 5!! Sloppy indeed.

    It's all rather sad, as up until then, the film was well written, acted and kept my attention. Sadly, I was anticipating giving the film a 7--but the sloppy ending really brought the film down to the level of mediocrity. Too bad.

    By the way, I rarely directly complain about an other review, but the one reviewer that complained ad nauseum about the 1950s really needs to stick to the film itself and not give us a diatribe about sexism and repression. You can't so strongly attack one film because you have such strong contempt for the 1950s! Who cares what you think about the 1950s? While I do agree that Lilli Palmer played a woman with very low self-esteem (considering how much she excused her womanizing husband), such vehemence about the film is just bizarre. Her character might have justified giving the film a somewhat lower score, but not this low.
    6BaronBl00d

    Groomed for Murder

    Solid if not impressive light thriller about a man infatuated with a young actress whilst still married soon to be entombed in a vault of lies when the young girl turns up dead and murdered - not by his hand or so he says? Rex Harrison gives a subtly good performance as Arthur Groome - the man who loves his wife and children yet also "loves" the young murdered actress. The film chronicles how the pieces of that puzzle unravel and whether or not Groome or someone else is the actual murderer. As a mystery film The Long Dark Hall is effective and entertaining for the most part. Harrison is as ever affable and Lili Palmer, his real-life wife, plays his wife here. All of the British cast do workmanlike jobs with Anthony Dawson particularly being effective. Patricia Cutts plays a very lovely girl in her turn as the victim. I would agree that the ending is somewhat unsatisfying and predictable but not wholly bleak. Directors Anthony Bushell and editor Reginald Beck(also getting his one time directorial credit for this film)create some very nice work - particularly those shots of the long, dark hall. This film is not a big budget affair in any way but still makes for a relaxing, enjoyable time.
    7jcholguin

    Circumstantial evidence can convict

    Rex Harrison stars as Arthur Groom, a man on trial for murdering a stage girl. This girl was young and became an obsession of Groom. The timeline becomes very critical as Groom claims that he spoke to a "large Italian man" at 10:00pm, the very time when the girl was murdered. All the circumstantial evidence such as the knife, seen there, lied about being in neighborhood and knowing the girl. No one can find his alibi. Trouble is as Groom tells everyone on the witness stand "I'm telling the truth but no one believes me, trouble is that it doesn't sound true, what good is the truth when it doesn't sound true." Lilli Palmer is Mary Groome, his faithful wife that stands with Arthur but will her marriage vow of "until death" be tested.

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    Related interests

    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
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    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Theatrical movie debut of William Squire (Sergeant Cochran).
    • Goofs
      The penknife has the words NE Steel and Chief Insp. Sullivan says the penknife was made at a factory called North England Steel Works, but the painted sign of the factory has North England Iron Works.
    • Quotes

      Leslie Scott: What do you think?

      Pound: 6 to 4 an acquittal.

      Leslie Scott: Why?

      Pound: Circumstantial evidence old boy. Juries won't have it. They don't like it and they don't trust it.

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 14, 1951 (Australia)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Främling i natten
    • Filming locations
      • Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK(studio: made at Nettlefold Studios, Walton On Thames, England)
    • Production companies
      • London Film Productions
      • Five Ocean Films Ltd.
      • Cusick International Films Inc.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 26m(86 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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