Daybreak (1948 film)

Daybreak

UK release poster
Directed by Compton Bennett
Produced by Sydney Box
Written by Sydney Box
Muriel Box
Starring Eric Portman
Ann Todd
Maxwell Reed
Music by Benjamin Frankel
Cinematography Reginald Wyer
Edited by Peter Price
Helga Cranston
Gordon Hales
Distributed by General Film Distributors
Release dates
  • 18 May 1948 (1948-05-18)
Running time
 75 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £150,000[1]
Box office £130,000[1]

Daybreak is a 1948 British film noir drama film, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Eric Portman, Ann Todd and Maxwell Reed. The film is based on a play by Monckton Hoffe. A sombre, bleak film, Daybreak was filmed in 1946, but ran into trouble with the BBFC, resulting in a delay of almost two years before its release. The version finally approved for release excised approximately six minutes of original footage, resulting in some jerky cuts where scenes have been removed and leaving noticeable plot lacunae which are considered to detract somewhat from an otherwise well-regarded film.[2]

Plot

Eddie (Portman) owns a London barber's shop and leads an apparently everyday life. However, under an assumed name he has a secret second identity known to no-one but his assistant Ron (Bill Owen) – he is also one of England's public hangmen, called on periodically to travel to prisons around the country to perform judicial executions.

One evening during a rainstorm, Eddie goes into a public house for a drink and meets the bedraggled Frankie (Todd), an aimless, world-beaten drifter. (There are suggestions that Frankie may be, or have been in the past, a prostitute; it is surmised that some of the deleted footage may have made this more explicit.) The pair fall in love and are soon married, although Frankie's vagueness about her past hangs unspoken over the relationship. Eddie's father dies, leaving him the family barge business on the River Thames. He hands over the barber's shop to Ron and takes over the business, setting up home with Frankie on one of the barges.

Eddie hires a Scandinavian seaman Olaf (Reed) to work for him, and soon the arrogant Olaf has Frankie in his sights. Despite herself she is attracted to him, but tries to deny her feelings. Meanwhile, Eddie is called away for reasons he cannot explain, and Frankie increasingly finds herself struggling to rebuff Olaf's advances during Eddie's absences. When he is next called away, she begs him either not to go or to take her with him, but as neither is an option for Eddie, she pleads with elderly bargeman Bill Shackle (Edward Rigby) to stay with her while Eddie is gone. Shackle is unable to grant her request due to other commitments.

Eddie returns unexpectedly early, and discovers Frankie and Olaf in an apparently compromising situation. A fight ensues between the two men, during which Eddie is knocked overboard and fails to resurface. The police are called by a witness to events, and Olaf is arrested for murder as it is presumed that Eddie's body has been carried away on the tide. In despair, Frankie commits suicide by shooting herself. However, Eddie has managed to swim to shore and takes refuge with Ron.

Olaf is convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. With nobody but Ron aware that Eddie and the alleged murder victim are one and the same, Eddie is summoned to carry out Olaf's execution, and relishes the prospect of being able to avenge Frankie's death. When the time comes however, he is unable to go through with it and confesses his identity at the last moment. He returns to the barber's shop and prepares to end his own life.

Cast

References

  1. 1 2 Andrew Spicer, Sydney Box Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 210
  2. ↑ Daybreak (1948) profile by Cave, Dylan. BFI Screen Online; retrieved 08-08-2010.

External links

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